The Chained Dragon and the Celestial Princess
by rhosinthorn
Summary: Nobody living remembers that the only person to have undergone dragonification was born a Celestial Spirit mage. As Fairy Tail dissolves, Lucy finds herself Acnologia's unwilling student as he works to fulfill a four hundred year old oath to teach the next Celestial Mage to summon the Spirit King.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

The last stitch in place, he bit the thread, neatly severing it. Inspecting his ruined arm, the forearm only attached to the rest of him by the thread he had used to stitch them together, he grunted in satisfaction. _He may have taken my arm, but as long as the sky children still live, I will have it back before long. There is no fix for being dead._

Discarding the needle he had used, he heaved himself upright, heading for the town he could just see over the treetops. All night he had flown to reach the town, following a half-remembered scent of the sky children, and then he had to complete the gruesome task of reattaching his arm, which had thankfully transitioned back to his human form when he did. Feeling his head spin slightly from the blood loss, he staggered towards the town gates. As much as he resented it, he had a duty, and he would not be an oathbreaker on top of all of his other sins.

 _Murderer_ , the voices from his past whispered. _Kinslayer._

 _Her death lies not on my hands_ , he reminded himself as he stumbled through the gates. _And at long last she may sleep in peace among the stars._

 _One death matters little to the many upon your hands,_ the voices hissed. He shook his head, casting them out of his head. The motion caused him to trip, and he had to concentrate in order to not fall on his face in the streets. As it was, he ended up kneeling in the middle of the streets.

"Are you okay sir?" a matronly looking woman asked, kneeling beside him.

 _Use this to my advantage._ "An animal," he rasped, letting his voice waver with the pain radiating from his arm. "It ripped off my arm when I was travelling." _Close enough to the truth. I did not arrive on that battlefield for Igneel, who was indeed an animal for all he proclaimed to be above that._

"Someone send for the Lamia Scale girl," the woman called to the gathering crowd. "Tell her to come to my place."

Acnologia felt hands on him, and fought the urge to throw them off, instead pretending to sag weakly in the arms supporting him as they guided him off the streets and into someone's home, laying him in a clean bed.

Keeping his eyes half closed, as if in too much pain to remain fully conscious, he let his enhanced senses monitor the room. The sky child arrived at a run, along with one who reminded him of Fairy Tail's pet ice mage. Careful to remain still, to not give any signs of his true nature, he let the girl poke and prod, asking questions which he gave vague, slightly misleading answers to. Eventually she started healing him, the cool touch of sky magic relieving the pain that had been coursing through him since Igneel ripped his arm off. Letting the waves of magic sweep over him, Acnologia let his mind wander. No normal person would still be conscious at this point anyway.

 _Centuries of waiting, and it took so little time for vengeance to be done._ Four hundred years ago he had faced Igneel and his Dragon Council, his sister's body heavy in his arms, and sworn that he would see them pay for her loss. In the space of a single afternoon, they were gone; Igneel by his hands, and time dealing with the others. _How did they manage to stay hidden for so long?_

Turning from that problem, he thought about his newest task: fulfilling the oath he swore when he had first sought to become a dragon slayer. _Of all people, why does it have to be_ _ **her**_ _?_ There was a Celestial mage in Sabertooth, according to rumor, and that Zentopian Cardinal had bound a great number in his plans to protect the Infinity Clock… _until she had to unbind them, trading their magic for their freedom._

 _Heartfilia_. That line had been a thorn in his side ever since before his training as a dragon slayer. _They had to be the last of the Celestial Mages, didn't they? Numerous even then, after what happened to the rest of us…_

 _I, Acnologia Draconis, do pledge this oath that if a Celestial Mage appears that is capable of summoning His Majesty, I will take the burden of their education upon myself, teaching them what otherwise would have been lost to time…_ The text of his oath repeated in his head, and he almost snorted at the memory of how proud he had been to bear such an important burden. If he had known what a mockery his life would have turned into, he would have remained as he was, never seeking to become a dragon slayer.

A silent snarl, that he hoped could be disguised as pain from his still healing limb, crossed his features. Even now, his oath forced him forward, reminding him that he had a duty to the blonde fairy. Just by feeling the gateway open, he had moved instinctively, in the air and heading towards the site of the summoning before he knew it. As bone regrew, joining his arm with his body as muscles knitted around it, he could see her unconscious form in his mind, sprawled among the wreckage of Zeref's damn guild. He had known that the demons were stirring, but if he had known that they would force a situation which required His Majesty to deal with it… he would have slaughtered them without a second thought.

 _When I attacked seven years ago, I should have made sure she was dead._ Seeing her there on the beach, with the four dragon slayer brats around her had only enraged him more. Zeref's magic had called to him like a beacon, but upon arriving, he found himself too late. Scenting the mages, he had almost lost his mind with rage as he saw _her_ on the beach, she who looked so much like Anna…

* * *

Two days later, he gave the kindly woman the slip, feeling his arm was completely back to normal. Setting out towards Magnolia on foot, he cursed his oath with every step he took. He had hoped that it would never be activated, or at least if it was, it would be well after he had finished avenging his sister and had time to adjust to the new reality where Igneel and the others responsible were dead and he was free from that burden.

On the sixth day since he had killed Igneel, he shifted and took to the air. Something inside him was pushing him forward, towards the girl he had no desire to see again. Cursing his oath, he landed outside Magnolia in the last darkness before dawn.

Walking the rest of the way in, he was surprised to see a familiar blonde figure crumpled on the path in front of him. Approaching warily, he extended all of his senses. Nobody was close to them; there was no blood. Old salt: dried tears. A faint trace of Igneel's son. As he crouched next to her, he saw the paper in her hands. Carefully prying it out of her grasp, he scanned it quickly. _So the brat's left, has he?_ Good. That would make his task easier. Turning her over, he located her key ring, rummaging through the keys to see which ones she had. _Virgo or Leo should do the trick_.

Clasping the key in his left hand, he let the edge break the skin, allowing a slight amount of blood to come in contact with the key. "As Draconis, I call thee forth, Leo the Lion."

A flash of gold light, a sight he hadn't seen in a century, and Leo stood before him. Different clothing, but the spirit was the same.

" _Draconis_ ," Leo said, bowing deeply. "You are here to fulfill your oath?"

"Pack whatever she needs for several months. Clothes and necessities only. You know your master best." _Hopefully_. "Which key was it?"

"Aquarius," Leo said, rising from his bow. "You should know that they had a very deep bond…"

"Unimportant." He wasn't here to be her friend, he was here to fulfill his oath. "You or Virgo, whichever one can do it, pack her things. She'll summon you when we get to where I live."

"No furniture?" At the question, Acnologia fought the instinct to rip the lion into two.

" _Clothes and necessities only_ ," he repeated slowly. "Now, close your gate and do as I said."

"If Draco were here…" the lion began, but he disappeared as Acnologia growled in warning. Looking at the blonde on the ground, he returned Leo's key to her keyring and lifted her in his arms.

 _Why the hell is she so light?_ Rolling his eyes at the proclivities of modern women, he started off towards the clearing where he had landed, making sure to cover his scent. Igneel's brat, or one of the others, might go looking for her, and there was no point in leaving them a trail to follow, or clues as to where she went. His plan was to teach her, and then leave here where she could find her own way back to the guild, not to have children chasing him because they thought she was in danger.

 _Time to go home_. He shifted into the dragon he had become, and clutched the girl carefully in his talons. Lifting off the ground, he winged his way towards the mountains he had settled in after long years of wandering.

 *****I am AcnoLu trash. For anyone who has problems with this ship, I understand. But I think it's fun, and this plot bunny would not go away. Beta would probably smack me if she was within arm's reach. But anyway, welcome to my trash ship. This will be slow burning romance, spoilers for those who don't read the manga, and a hefty dose of making it up as I go from yours truly.**

 **So, the details. I'll try and update every other Wednesday from here on out. I doubt it will be as long as** ** _Still Standing_** **ended up being, but that was also not supposed to be as long as it ended up. It's set** ** _immediately_** **after manga chapter 416, and will span the gap year, and maybe a bit beyond that.**

 **Acnologia lives in a cave. So he has to make/gather/hunt most of what he needs to survive. I have never done...99% of what he does. So Google is my friend, but even so, there will be inaccuracies. Whoops. I'm sorry. But he also has magic, so there are things I figure he can manage to replicate. Good thing this is fiction right?**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy.*****


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

When Lucy woke, she was in an unfamiliar setting. Again.

Lying still, she assessed her surroundings. _Bare stone walls, relatively rough. A cave maybe? I'm lying on something soft, but not sheets._ A brief turn of her head, and she realized that she was lying on a fur pelt. Controlling her panic, she continued analyzing, knowing that the only way to keep her fear from taking over was to feed it facts.

 _Fur pelts…likely not close to any towns. Stone floor, but smoothed. A cave, but one that someone's modified. Dim lighting, but that looks like lacrimas set into the wall. Light source maybe?_ _More skins stretched out on a wooden frame…dividing this space, from the rest of the cave. Is this a cell? A bedroom?_

Out of facts about her surroundings, Lucy moved on to her personal inventory. _No aches or pains. So I wasn't knocked out to be brought here. Keys are still on my belt, so whoever moved me doesn't care if I'm armed or not. My clothes are unchanged. No shoes…wait, they're sitting against the wall over there, with my whip next to them._

She hadn't heard a single sound since she had woken, so Lucy dared to slip off whatever she was lying on and creep over to her boots, pulling them on and reattaching her whip to her belt. Turning back for a moment, she realized that she had been lying on a stone shelf liberally covered with furs. _Either a bed or a prison cot_ , she thought, before slipping over to the divider.

There was nothing to keep her in the small space, so she cautiously entered the adjacent part of the cave. Her eyes darted everywhere, trying to take in all of the details. _Smooth floor, covered in several places with hides. For warmth? Central sunken firepit, with what looks like seats around it. How many people are here? Those look like they could be kitchen counters, and that looks like a rough oven…is that running water I hear?_ Venturing closer to what she would call the 'kitchen', if this was a house, Lucy found a basin carved into the stone, with water pouring from a place somewhere above it and exiting through a drain in the bottom. Bending down to examine it, she found a small cavity directly underneath the basin with the charred remains of a fire. _So you can use hot water to do dishes?_

Dim lacrima lights were embedded into the stone walls, creating the feeling that she was an intruder in an empty house. Spying a hide stretched across what appeared to be an opening, Lucy pushed it aside tentatively, and found herself looking into the mother of all storerooms.

Whoever had created this place had prepared for all eventualities, it seemed. Barrels stood against one wall, with 'Flour' and 'Sugar' marked on them. Rolls of hides lay on shelves, waiting to be used. Dried meat hung in orderly lines, and there appeared to be a smoking chamber, as well as more firewood than Lucy had ever seen in her lifetime. Leaving the chamber, she returned to the main room, now more curious than afraid.

 _Someone has been living here a long time,_ she thought, spotting another hide covered entrance next to the dividers that hid what she now considered the bedroom from view. _They found me and brought me here. There must be a reason._

The entrance next to the bedroom had a hot spring in it, and another cooler pool. Testing the water in the hot spring, Lucy longed to slip in for a soak, a soak she had been denied since her apartment and most of the town's water systems had been damaged by the attack. Hot water was a precious commodity in Magnolia these days. But curiosity drove her onwards, back out into the main cavern. There was one other entrance she hadn't found; hopefully it led to the outside world.

As she pushed aside the last hide, Lucy stopped dead in her tracks. Compared to the rest of the cave, which was largely unadorned, this room had paintings all over the walls, which had been smoothed, likely in the same way the floor had. Reaching out, she carefully touched one of the scenes depicted, feeling the cool stone under the paint. From what she could tell, all of the paintings were historical in theme, and standing in the center of the room, she felt as if she was standing in the center of history. Low shelves under the paintings contained books, large tomes that seemed to be hand bound. Directly opposite the entrance was a wooden table and chair, with an open book lying in front of it, and a quill pen and bottle of ink waiting nearby.

Looking at the writing, Lucy realized that it was old fashioned, and somewhere between her handwriting and Natsu's for neatness. _Well, the handwriting I use when I'm in a hurry. If it's correspondence, I am much, much neater._ The book seemed to be an accounting of events, but the last sentence on the page seemed to be unfinished, as if the writer had been interrupted. A stack of fresh paper was perched on the corner of the desk.

 _Is this the home of some reclusive scholar?_ Lucy wondered, moving back to the center of the room. _And why was I brought here? Where is the person who brought me here? How far am I from Magnolia? Natsu must be…_ Her mind stopped short, and she remembered. Coming home with groceries. The note from Natsu. Running through the streets, hoping to catch up with him. _But what happened next?_

"Good," a voice said from behind her, a strange lilt to his words. "You have found the _athenaeum_. This is what you were brought here to see."

Spinning so quickly she felt lightheaded, Lucy stared at the man standing in in the entryway to the room. Long silver hair cascaded around his face, and he wore nothing but a pair of trousers that looked to be made out of an animal hide like those she had seen in the storeroom and a cloak. But most startling of all were the blue markings that decorated his brown skin, and the grey eyes that looked as they had seen untold ages of the world.

"W-who are you?" she stuttered, hand reaching for her keys and her whip. "W-why did you bring me here? Where am I?"

"Peace _heofonsteorra_ ," he said commandingly. "You have been brought here to be _stærleornere_ , so that I may fulfil my oath. Where you are matters little; you will not leave until you have learned what there is to be taught."

"You can't keep me here," Lucy spat, selecting Loke's key by touch only. "My friends will tear Earthland apart looking for me."

A corner of his mouth crept up as if in a smile. "But they will not find you, even if they do look. I may pass and leave no traces if I so desire. Your friends are scattering to the four winds. Without their guild to hold them together, they will separate. It will be assumed that you have simply left before them."

"Fairy Tail would _never_ do that," Lucy cried, but doubt nagged at her heart. Natsu had left. It had been days since anyone had seen Grey or Juvia. Master hadn't organized the rebuilding of the guild. "We're family."

"Even family must part. And you, _heofonsteorra_ , have a task set before you. Be proud, for in four hundred years, my oath has remained dormant, until you appeared."

"Why do you call me _heofonsteorra_?" Lucy demanded. "Who _are_ you, and what is _stærleornere_?"

" _Heofonsteorra_ is what you are. It is what I could have become, had I not chosen to become _gúþfloga_. _Stærleornere_ is what you will be while you remain here. Begin with the top shelf, on the left of my desk."

There was a flash of light, and Lucy was startled to see Loke appear, bowing deeply to the stranger. " _Draconis_ ," he murmured. "I am sorry to intercede, but my mistress does not understand the old terms. Please, for the sake of her understanding, speak plainly. She does not know the honor she receives. If you allow me one further impertinence, I ask that you give her your name. My mistress will learn it soon enough as she studies."

Her captor studied Loke for a minute as Lucy watched with wide eyes. About the only thing she had understood was _Draconis_. She and Levy, out of curiosity, had looked up the history of Celestial Spirit mages after the Grand Magic Games. They had been shocked to find that all Celestial Spirit mages could be traced back to three bloodlines, each named after a 'patron' constellation: Andromeda, the Phoenix, and Draco. The books had said that the Phoenix line had mostly died out after the founding of Veronica, and Draco had been extinct for four hundred years. But Loke had just referred to this man as _Draconis_ , which, if Lucy remembered correctly, was the term used to refer to the leader of the Draco bloodline.

"As you wish, Leo," the man said slowly. " _Heofonsteorra_ is what you would call a Celestial Wizard in your parlance. A _stærleonere_ is a student of history, which is a rough term for what you will become during your time here. And _gúþfloga_? Today you call them _dragon slayers_."

Immediately Lucy ran what information she had on dragon slayers through her mind. None of it matched up. If there was another dragon slayer still alive, why hadn't he come forth when the others appeared? Couldn't he teach them? And he had said that he could have been a Celestial mage, and was presumably the head of the line of Draco… "Is your element Celestial?" she asked slowly, looking at the blue markings on his arms and face.

He arched an eyebrow at her. "How very astute. It is little wonder that you will be the first to learn what has been long forgotten. Now, one last question: do you know who I am? We have met twice before."

Lucy furrowed her brow in thought. _Met twice before? I would have remembered him. It's not Cobra; he was missing an eye, and is a completely different build. There are seven dragon slayers, they were all at the Grand Magic Games…wait._

Flashes of memory came back to her. An underground cavern. Wendy casting a spell. A long dead dragon, speaking of events four hundred years prior… _Met twice before…_

"Oh Mavis," Lucy whispered, eyes locked on the ancient grey ones. "You're Acnologia."

This time he was definitely grinning, even if his lips moved upwards only by a fraction. "Well met, Lucy Heartfilia _Andromedaera_ , first of that title in three hundred fifty years, since the days of _Andromedaera_ Anna Heartfilia. I am indeed Acnologia _Draconis_ , Celestial Dragon Slayer, sole pupil of Draco. In exchange for that privilege, I swore an oath that if one came that could call forth His Majesty, I would pass down knowledge that was already being forgotten in my time. What you see here, in the _athenaeum_ is the recordings of all the Celestial Magic known to humankind, as well as historical records. It is your task to learn all of the Celestial Magic you are capable of before you may leave."

"The line of Andromeda faded three hundred and fifty years ago," Lucy repeated slowly. "If that's true, how is it that the title _Andromedaera_ continued until the last claimant, Maia Fiore?"

Acnologia snorted. "Andromeda's heir is she who is recognized by the stars. _Andromodaera_ Anna Heartfilia died without a recognized heir. Those who took the title after her were false heirs. As _Draconis_ , and as he who was trothplighted to the last _Andromedaera_ , I feel that I am capable of bestowing it on you. You have the bloodline for it."

Head spinning, Lucy opened her mouth to either argue or ask more questions, but Loke's hand on her shoulder stopped her. " _Draconis_ , my mistress is understandably confused by this turn of events. May I have privacy to explain to her what has occurred?"

Shrugging, Acnologia turned to leave the chamber. "I care not. As long as she learns what she must for my oath to be fulfilled, she may do as she will, but she may not leave." The hide fell back into place as he left, leaving Lucy alone with Loke.

"What the hell is going on?" she spat, rounding on the lion spirit. "I wake up in Mavis knows where, and it turns out that Fairy Tail is disbanding, and Acnologia of all people can be both a human and a dragon, and brought me here!'

"Breathe for a moment Princess," Loke advised her gently, and she took his advice, struggling to push off the onrushing panic. "I'll explain what I can."

"You better," she grumbled, seating herself on the stone floor of the cave.

Loke sat next to her, tucking her under his arm. "I can't tell you about Acnologia, other than to confirm that he is who he said he is, and that his oath is real. His Majesty was concerned about the amount of knowledge being lost since Celestial Spirit mages were becoming less powerful, and using fewer powerful spells, so in exchange for Draco tutoring Acnologia in Dragon Slayer magic, Acnologia swore to teach any Celestial mage who summoned His Majesty. Since the oath was sworn, no mage but you has accomplished that feat."

"So he kidnapped me and brought me here so that he could be free of his duty?" Lucy wondered, leaning into his reassuring warmth. "Seems to reinforce the perception of him as the asshole who murdered my friend's dad."

The lion remained silent, so Lucy took it upon herself to ask the next question. "So, what about everything he was saying about _Andromedaera_? Am I really the first recognized one in three hundred and fifty years?"

"Give or take a few decades," Loke confirmed. "The last _Andromedaera_ we recognize as such in our histories is Anna Heartfilia, who lived around x400, during the Dragon Civil War. She was indeed trothplighted to _Draconis_ Acnologia, but…things ended badly. It was an arranged match, for the betterment of both lines. Fire Village had just been destroyed, and the whereabouts of the current _Phoenixa_ were unknown. That line is completely extinct now."

"It was Éclair, wasn't it?" Lucy asked softly, and Loke nodded.

"He _is_ jumping the gun at recognizing you as _Andromedaera_ ," Loke said after a few minutes of thought. "His Majesty hasn't spoken of resurrecting the old lines, since Draco is the only one with a legitimate heir."

"How is this going to work?" Lucy looked around at the volumes lining the shelves of the room they were in. "Am I just supposed to read all of these and go on my merry way?"

"I'm not sure how he plans to teach you," admitted the lion spirit. "That much of it is lore that can be absorbed by reading is true. There are several spells and rituals that will need instruction, and they can't be done inside this cave. You'll probably be spending a great deal of time with Crux, especially if he recorded the knowledge in the old tongue. Much of it resembles modern vocabulary, but as you've gathered, there are words that have since fallen out of use."

"Wonderful," Lucy muttered with a grimace. "Wish I had Levy and Freed here. They would be a great help with the language issue."

"Princess," Loke began, a note of caution in his voice. "There's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Lucy asked, pulling away from him so that she could look him in the eye. "Is everyone back home all right?"

"Fairy Tail disbanded," he said bluntly, shrugging off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt. "Makarov made the announcement while you were chasing after Natsu. Levy came by to tell you the news as Virgo was packing your apartment. Everything's in storage in our world. Just call her out if you want something."

Lucy waited for the tears to come, but there was nothing. She couldn't muster a single tear as she looked at Loke's bare back where the Fairy Tail mark once rested. For the first time since she had awakened, she looked at the back of her right hand and saw that her own mark was missing. All she felt was an overwhelming numbness, an emptiness she couldn't fathom.

"You can return, Loke," she heard herself mumble. "I need some time alone."

He shrugged his shirt back on and grabbed his jacket. "We're all here for you Princess," he murmured as he brushed a kiss over her brown. "Don't forget that."

As he left in a flash of light, Lucy lay back on the stone floor of the cave and stared up at the ceiling. She knew logically that she should feel sad, angry, scared, and a whole host of related emotions, but she felt nothing. Just the persistent numbness.

 *****Okay, I'm posting early because tomorrow's going to be busy. A lot of this is laying out what's going on, and setting up where these two are going to be hanging out for...quite a while.**

 **I do reference a few things from the Fairy Tail movie,** ** _Phoenix Priestess_** **, so sorry for those of you who don't know it. (But you should see it) The vast majority of what I reference though is pure conjecture on my part- there's no actual link to Celestial Spirits mentioned in the movie.**

 **Aaaand, I used some Old English in this. Now, I have** ** _no_** **education in OE whatsoever, so the internet helped me, and that means I'm likely wrong. I used www. oldenglishtranslator. co. uk/, and here's the exact definitions:**

 _Heofonsteorra_ : star of heaven

 _stærleornere_ : student of history/one who learns history/historical scholar

 _gúþfloga_ : one that flies to battle a dragon

 **So, yeah, I wanted Acnologia to have a touch of antiquity about him. Which is also why he may sound a little...odd at times. Stiff.**

 **I think that's about it. See everyone next Friday for** ** _Frontlines_** **.*****


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

She didn't know how long she had laid there before the hide was pushed back and Acnologia entered again.

"Get up," he ordered curtly. "You will either study, or you will sleep. I have neither time nor patience for emotions."

"Go to hell," she said halfheartedly, unable to muster rage or indignation. "It's what you deserve anyway."

He entered into her limited view and pulled her upright. "You know nothing, Lucy Heartfilia. There is food at the hearth. Eat. Once you have finished, you will sleep or you will study, whichever is your preference."

"And what if I don't want to do either?" Lucy asked, feeling vaguely insulted at being manhandled. "What then, _Draconis_?" she spat the title like an insult at him, remembering that he had killed Igneel, had tried to kill them all, was responsible for the seven years she lost on Tenrou Island. The rage was there now, roaring through her body as she remembered every crime he had committed against Fairy Tail. He had created Future Rogue, she recalled with startling clarity. Future Rogue had made her watch her own future self die as she cradled her in her arms. "Will you kill me, as you tried to do before?"

Acnologia snarled, a wordless sound of rage. "Mind your tongue," he growled. "I did not ask for your presence here. _You_ were the one who summoned the His Majesty, the fault is yours."

"I wish I hadn't," she hissed, remembering the misery of that moment. "I wish I had _died_ like I was supposed to, if me dying would have saved my guildmates. Aquarius would still have a gate, and I'd be somewhere better than here."

He shook her roughly. "If death is what you wish, there are plenty of ways to seek it," he breathed. "I will not stop you, since your presence in my home is undesirable. Go ahead, _Heartfilia_. Put us both out of our miseries."

Lucy swallowed hard. _Did I really mean it?_ She wondered, thinking about her impulsive words. _Would it have been better if I had died?_

Suddenly, she remembered a memory of a conversation with Erza, when the other girl was feeling rather morose after they had defeated the Oracion Seis, only to lose Jellal to the Rune Knights in the end.

 _When I was fused with the lacrima, I saw my own funeral_ , the redhead had said slowly. _Up until that point, I was convinced that I had made the right decision, sacrificing myself so that all of you could live. Everything seemed so pointless then. I had stopped Jellal, but Simon was dead. Jellal as I knew him as a child was gone. Soon, all of you would be gone. What was my life compared to saving all of yours? But then I saw my funeral, saw everyone's tears and grief, and I realized how much my dying would hurt all of you. And so I decided to live on._

 _If I had died during the attack, how would Natsu have felt? Or Erza, or Grey, or Wendy, or any of the others? Would it really be better if I hadn't lived?_ She closed her eyes as the answer came to her. No, it would have been worse. Fairy Tail lived for each other against all odds, forgoing the selfless sacrifices contained in books. For the sake of her friends, she had to keep living, even if it meant being here, learning from Acnologia.

"Let go of me," she said quietly. "I will study, and then I will leave."

"If that is your decision," the dragon said, equally as soft. "There is food by the hearth. I may wish that you were not here, but you will not go without while in my home. Consider yourself under the protection of _luffeorm_."

 _Another word to ask Crux about_ , Lucy thought with a sigh as the dragon released her and left the room again. Rubbing her arm where his grip had bordered on painful, she saw that he had left the main room, disappearing somewhere else in the cave. But as he had promised, there was a plate containing roasted meat and bread by the central hearth.

Approaching the fire, she found that there was a bench carved into the floor, covered with actual fabric cushions. Lowering herself down into the recess, she watched the embers glow, the extra warmth unneeded. The cave was pleasantly cool, despite being the end of August, and Lucy found herself wondering what it was like during the winter.

Turning her attention to her plate, she found an unfamiliar piece of meat, and some type of flatbread that reminded her of those usually served at restaurants that specialized in cuisine from the southern lands. When she found no utensils, Lucy shrugged and picked up the meat with her fingers, nibbling tentatively. It was tougher, but had a much richer taste than anything she had eaten before. Realizing that she was hungrier than she had realized, the blonde ate hungrily, finishing the meat and slowly eating the flatbread, tearing it off in strips.

"It is night now." Acnologia's voice sounded behind her, and Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin as she twisted to look at him, almost dropping the plate on her lap. "Have you found the bathing chamber?"

"The room with the two pools?" she asked, gripping the solid clay plate in her hands in a poor attempt to keep herself grounded.

He nodded shortly. "There is also a place for waste, and a place where water flows from overhead. You may use that room as you will, but do not forget that you are here to study. The room where you woke is for your use as well."

Lucy couldn't think of anything else to say, so she returned her attention to her plate, crumbling the small portion of bread she had left. When she looked up again, he was gone, and Lucy had to marvel at his silence. None of the other dragon slayers she knew could move that quietly. Gajeel's tread was always discernable if you knew he was around, and Laxus tended to have a constant crackling of static electricity near him. Wendy's movement usually brought a breeze with it, and Natsu couldn't do anything quietly to save his life. However, she still couldn't figure out where the dragon slayer disappeared to. _If the room where I woke is mine to use, where is he going to sleep?_ _He also wasn't in any part of the cave that I know about when I woke. There has to be some entrance or exit somewhere._

Getting up, she took her plate over to the stone sink and rinsed it off. Close investigation revealed a small jar of what she thought was soap, so she did her best, washing with cold water because she was slightly nervous about trying to heat the water for a single plate.

Done with her cleanup, Lucy returned to the chamber where she had woken and kicked off her boots. It was warm enough to not sleep with a blanket, so she climbed on top of the pile of furs that would be her bed while she stayed here and let herself drift off to sleep.

* * *

She woke screaming.

It was a sudden jolt, and she heard her own voice echoing off the rock walls surrounding her, terrifying her even more. She could only see the walls of Cube, smell the harsh tang of smoke, blood, and something that she could only hope wasn't burnt flesh. Suffocating, she rolled herself off the edge of the bed, the unforgiving contact with the cool stone floor jarring her out of her waking nightmare. Lying there, she forced her breath to return to normal, pulling herself upright and placing her back against the ledge that held her bed of furs.

 _You're safe here_ , she reminded herself, counting her breaths to keep them steady. _Tartarus is gone. Jackal is gone. You finished him. This is Acnologia's cave. You're here to learn from him._

As she sat there, struggling to tell the difference between her nightmare and her reality, she became aware of the dragon's presence in the gap between screens that served as an entrance to the bedchamber.

"Your screams would awaken the dead," he said coolly.

Surprisingly enough, anger helped her focus on this reality. "Go to hell," she hissed, counting her breaths as she realized that she was trembling.

Oddly enough, he looked amused by this. "We have gone through this before," he said, a slight smirk on his face. "Next, you will tell me that it is what I deserve."

Lucy hated him at that moment, more than she had ever hated anyone. He stood there, leaning casually against the screens that blocked her bedroom from view, a smirk on his face while she struggled to breathe, struggled to focus on what was real and what remained from her nightmares. It seemed so _unfair_ that he could sleep with an easy conscious while she struggled to sleep without nightmares. The rage boiled up in her, and she fisted her hands, relishing in the sensation of her nails pricking into her palms, another sign that she was in reality, not in a dream. "If you've come to mock, go away."

The smirk was gone, replaced with his inscrutable mask. "This morning, I will hunt. I will thank you to keep from scaring the game away with your shrieks."

 _He's going to hunt? I might be able to slip out of here while he's gone…_

"You will remain in the cave," he said firmly. "Even if you could figure out how to leave, you would not get far. The terrain is treacherous for those who know it not, and I have the advantage of flight."

"How did you get your arm back?" she blurted out as he turned away, realizing it for the first time. He had discarded his cloak, and was simply clad in baggy trousers. A thin, pale scar circled his right bicep, and Lucy remembered that Natsu had very clearly explained that Igneel had ripped Acnologia's forearm off.

"The Sky Goddess is quite skilled," he said as he left. "Though she isn't a slayer, she is proficient enough."

Lucy slammed her fist into the floor, not caring about the painful jolt that ran up her arm, fiercely angry that he had been allowed to just _waltz_ into Lamia Scale and get Chelia to fix his arm while Fairy Tail had to haul themselves out of the rubble and bury their dead

"So you just continue doing whatever the hell you want without consequences?" she hissed, and his back, just visible if she craned her neck, stiffened. A low growl filled the cave, but Lucy refused to back down. She had stood her ground on Tenrou, and against Tartarus and the dragons at the Grand Magic Games. Even if he was perfectly capable of killing her, she would face him. Make him look her in the eyes as he did so.

"Have you considered," he said softly. " _Why_ I came to be there a week ago?"

"Smelt the death and destruction and decided to join in?" Lucy replied flippantly, glad that she seemed to have hit a nerve.

"I doubt you would have noticed, but strong uses of Celestial Magic draws other users. Such as summoning His Majesty. When you opened his gate, I knew immediately where you were. It was a beacon drawing me, and with my oath, I was in the air before I could even truly process what was happening. So, in all truth, it was not my choice that brought me to _your_ battlefield, Heartfilia."

 _He came for me?_ Lucy thought numbly as he disappeared. _He was there because of me? Igneel, Metallicana…all of them, they died because I summoned 'Stache face?_ "Oh Mavis, what have I done?" she whispered, and the anger she had previously felt was crushed by an overwhelming wave of guilt.

 _Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea máxima culpa._

* * *

Loke came for her after an indeterminate time, mindlessly chattering to her as he brought fresh clothes for her to change into, and then guiding her into the _athenaeum_ and passing her a thin volume before positioning her at the desk. Still chattering, he brought her a notebook and a pen, suggesting that Plue might like to spend time with her while she read. Obediently she opened the little dog's gate and helped him climb onto her lap, gently opening the book in front of her.

It could have been minutes or hours before Acnologia appeared in front of her again, so lost was she in her reading. She looked up at him as he came into view, distracting her from the neatly written text on the page. "What is it now?"

"There is food by the hearth," he stated flatly. "Dawn has come."

 _So it's morning,_ Lucy thought as she stretched, Plue mimicking her movements. _How much sleep did I actually get?_

Docile, she followed him out into the main room, where as he promised, there was a plate with meat and bread on it. Tearing off small bites for Plue, Lucy ate quietly, aware that Acnologia was moving around the main room, prowling like a caged animal. Vaguely she wondered if she would be served anything but meat and bread until she left, but she didn't feel up to challenging the dragon on the matter. With her current spate of luck, she'd end up starving because he decided that she wasn't worth feeding if she was going to complain.

After washing her plate, she returned to her book, Plue choosing to lie down on the table and pretend to read upside down, the pose bringing up painful memories of time spent in her apartment on the quiet days without missions…

 _I have to confess to Natsu,_ she thought sadly. _He deserves to know that it was me who brought Acnologia down upon Igneel that day._

The book Loke had chosen seemed to be a primer on Celestial Magic, one more detailed and complex than she had ever thought her chosen type of magic could be. Her notebook page was covered in questions she had noted, meaning to ask Loke to find her another book, or ask Crux to explain. But it had confirmed that powerful uses of Celestial Magic would draw other users. _Did Yukino feel the summons?_ Lucy wondered. _Did she help send Rogue and Sting? I know Erza sent them a letter, but did my summons give them a destination and more speed?_

 _And what about Angel, wherever she is? Did she feel it?_

Too many questions. Lucy finished her book, wondering how she had made it this far in her career as a mage without knowing half of what seemed to be important Celestial knowledge. Loke seemed to sense that she needed him, and he appeared next to her, dressed as she remembered him from Fairy Tail, instead of the now familiar suit he wore as Leo.

"How could all of this be forgotten?" Lucy murmured, stroking the worn cover of the book in front of her. "Four hundred years, and not half of it was taught to me. And part of what I know was rumors, legends, all of which are apparently fact."

"Times were different," Loke said, hands in his pockets as he looked at her notes over her shoulder. "There were a lot more Celestial Mages then. It all started to be lost when Mildean was wiped out."

"Mildean?" Lucy asked. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"An Academy in what you would recognize as Alverez today," Loke explained, leaving her to circle the room, looking at the painted walls. "Come over here a minute?"

Gathering Plue in her arms, Lucy joined the lion spirit in front of the second painting from the door. It showed a building, with beautiful columns and what Lucy would consider a classic structure from her limited experience in architecture. "This is Midean Academy?"

"It was," Loke said grimly. "Because there's only twelve keys, and they've been held pretty tightly by the main families of Andromeda's line ever since they were formed, only the silver keys were widely used. So there were a lot of people studying alternative uses of Celestial Magic. All of this was centered at the Midean Academy of Magic, which held the largest repository of writings outside any personal libraries Andromeda's line kept. And one day, it was all gone."

"What happened? An earthquake? Fire? Attack?" Lucy was interested, wondering why this Academy had fallen in such a short time, why nobody really spoke of it.

"There was a prodigy there, who was proposing theories that shattered the current understanding of Celestial Magic, among other types of magic, and they were completely correct. He went on to do things that nobody has been able to replicate since. But one of his experiments managed to kill everyone in the building. Not a single person, except for the prodigy was spared. It was the largest mass killing of Celestial Mages in history, until the destruction of Fire Village."

"When did this happen?" Lucy asked, tracing the lines of the painting, now seeing the small figures that she assumed were the bodies of the dead lying on the steps of the academy.

"Before the Dragon Civil War," Loke said gently. "Acnologia likely heard of the massacre and recorded it here. I don't doubt that he or someone in his line has been to Mildean, since I recognize several of these books as ones that were thought lost when the Academy fell. Everyone who entered that place before it was physically destroyed about four hundred years ago was killed."

"How are they still in good condition?" It was impossible to tell which books were ancient, and which ones were more modern. _Before the Dragon Civil War, which was four hundred years ago, by the account of Zilconis. So some of these books are older than Acnologia himself…_

"I recopy them when they begin to become too fragile," Acnologia declared from the doorway next to them. "It keeps the memory fresh, and the books are preserved. The language is also updated as necessary, although in that case, I copy out the original translation, and then I update to the newest language. The one on the table was copied about ten years ago."

" _Draconis_ ," Loke acknowledged with a bow. "I did not know that some of the treasures of Mildean had been rescued."

"It wasn't something I wanted advertised," the dragon growled. "Food is on the hearth."

"Wait," Lucy said quietly. "Why are both of you being so secretive about Mildean? Who was the prodigy that killed everyone? What was he working on?"

Acnologia and Loke exchanged glances. It was Loke who actually spoke. "That isn't necessarily part of your education here, Princess. Trust me when I tell you that I'm doing this for your sake. You're not ready for the truth, although you'll likely figure it out if you keep reading."

Setting Plue down, she crossed her arms over her chest, the little spirit doing the same. "Loke. I have just been through a war. This morning I realized that my actions led to my best friends' parents getting killed. There isn't much more that could hurt me."

"You may tell her Leo," Acnologia said, a grin playing on his lips, but her eyes were cold. "She may actually die of despair if she knows the whole truth, and I'll be free of my oath. Let her see how entangled this web is."

"I'm not going to," Loke said firmly. "She'll learn eventually. I killed one key holder, I will not be responsible for the death of another."

The dragon raised his eyebrow. "And you were the biggest advocate for humans among the spirits," he said with a dark chuckle. "Last I knew that would have exiled you from the heavens, unless the law changed."

"I changed it," Lucy spat, feeling the rage boil up again. Both of them were talking over her like she wasn't there, making decisions for her like she was a child. "'Stache face came, and I told him that it wasn't fair to let Loke die just because he had been protecting Aries."

Growling, Acnologia turned on her. "Show His Majesty proper respect, Heartfilia."

"He doesn't care," Lucy retorted. "I called him that to his face, and he didn't have a problem. We were even invited into the Spirit World after your first attempt to kill us."

"Humans, in the Spirit World?" the dragon murmured. "I see I have missed a great deal in the last decade. When did this happen?"

"After the Fairy Sphere released Tenrou Island," Loke supplied. "It was an apology for not being able to protect them from the seven year sleep."

"And your exile, Leo?" Acnologia seemed unbothered by the reference to the time he attempted to kill the main strength of Fairy Tail.

"He had a master, Karen Lilica, who was horrible to her spirits. She was abusing Aries, and Leo took her place, threatening to keep his gate open until she released him and Aries from their contracts. Karen didn't listen, to Loke or to her guild master, and she was killed on a mission trying to open a second gate. 'Stache face exiled him for that, but I found Loke in time and made him change his mind." Lucy knew that she was babbling, but she wanted the dragon to understand that Loke wasn't at fault, that it was Karen who had been cruel.

"Loke? Has the name of the leader of the Zodiac's changed since I last saw you?" Acnologia eyed the lion spirit. "You have changed your apparel again."

"In my exile, I went by the name 'Loke'," the lion spirit answered. "This is how I appeared. Lucy met me in this form, and I use it sometimes to cheer her up."

"Sentiment," the dragon growled. "I have other things to do. Food is on the hearth, as I said." Leaving, he left Loke and Lucy in silence, and Lucy turned on her spirit.

"So, are you going to explain what the hell is up with Mildean and you two?"

"Lucy," he sighed, running his hand through his hair. "It's complicated, and messy, and even I don't want to believe all of it. Things were a lot simpler before I was exiled and came to Fairy Tail, when history was just that. Trust me on this Princess, you're not ready to hear it. Keep your eyes open, and you'll put it together. There's enough material in here that you'll figure it out."

He disappeared, but not before placing another book on her table. Sighing, and muttering a few choice words that she had learned from Gajeel about the lion spirit, Lucy and Plue moved to the hearth, where a familiar plate waited for her.

 *****Well, this is...late. Sorry about that, but I didn't have internet until about 6 hours ago, my entire life is either packed in boxes, or strewn about my new apartment...I moved yesterday, so things have been rather unsettled. Oh, and I have houseguests.**

 **Not much to talk about here. Both Lucy & Acnologia are cranky with each other, we're dealing with the aftermath of Tartarus...and hints about the ancient past. Such is Fairy Tail, eh? See you all next week with ****_Frontlines_** **, and here's hoping my life is somewhat back together by then.*****


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

The first day turned into four, which became a week, which became a month.

Lucy still hadn't figured out how the dragon was getting in and out of the cave. She had searched for the exit a number of times when he had told her that he would be out hunting for the day, but had never managed to find it. Virgo and the other spirits were expressly bound from interfering. They couldn't help her escape, but they could be there for her. The blonde had taken to summoning them while she studied, asking them questions and in general getting to know them. Aquarius's loss was a constant ache.

Virgo had packed her apartment, and slowly Lucy had asked the maid to bring things into the cave. Not much, since there wasn't much space in the cave for Lucy to use, but she had brought some of her clothing, the heaviest she owned, and some of her own novels. Occasionally in the evening, Lucy would sit in front of the hearth after her evening meal and work on her novel, bouncing ideas off her spirits. Surprisingly enough, Aries usually had fantastic suggestions, leading Lucy to believe that her shy spirit was an avid reader.

Capricorn led her through as much training as they could manage in the cave, but Lucy knew that her progress was limited by being forced to do little more than meditate. With all of the lore books read that Acnologia had assigned to her, she needed to negotiate with the dragon to spend some time outdoors.

Her moment came on the day when he returned from bringing back winter supplies. Lucy pounced as he was moving barrels and crates into the storeroom. "I need to go outside," she stated, blocking the exit to the storeroom. "If you want me to actually learn the spells that I'm supposed to be learning, I can't do it from inside the cave."

"No," he said, equally firm. "You will not. You are not yet ready."

"I've read all the books," she cried in frustration. "What's left are ones with spells in them, and unless you want me to chance blowing up the cave, I can't work on the spells without going outside."

Brushing by her, he lifted another stack of crates, shifting them into the storeroom. As one of the corners forced her to move aside, Lucy persisted: "Ask any of my spirits. They'll tell you that I've read everything you assigned."

"Do you know what your bloodline is?" he asked coolly. "Do you know the significance of the contact between mage and spirit? Can you explain to me why anyone who can wield the Twelve in unison is dangerous, and what the Thirteenth key truly unlocks?"

Struck dumb by the number of questions he asked her, Lucy shook her head. "I'm Andromeda, you and Loke both said so. And a contract is to protect the spirits from bad owners. The thirteenth key is Ophiuchus, and it you can wield all twelve keys, you're an incredibly powerful mage."

"All wrong," Acnologia shook his head dismissively. "You may have read the books, but you do not truly understand them. If you did, you will not be standing here in front of me as you are now."

"Why do I need to read more about things like the Eclipse Gate?" Lucy complained. "I've already matched up against one, and I doubt anyone will be stupid enough to build a gate after what happened last time."

"You think that was the only Eclipse Gate ever built?" Acnologia called as he moved another barrel into the storeroom. "That was the third. Two out of the three were built in your lifetime. Believe me Heartfilia, the Eclipse Gate is part of your history."

 _What the hell?_ Lucy wanted to scream, but the dragon was still talking. "If you cannot explain to me why the Eclipse Gate reacted badly on the night of the seventh of July in x791, you are not fit to begin practicing with the spells contained in the volumes."

Throwing up her hands in frustration, Lucy stormed out of the storeroom and back to the _athenaeum_ where a pile of books was on the desk. Loke stood next to the table, presumably talking with Plue until she burst in.

"I can't believe him," she hissed, fighting the urge to overturn the table. "He tells me to read, and I read. But apparently that's not good enough. I have to know every detail of every branch of Celestial magic! And be able to theorize why the Eclipse Gate went haywire! Does he want to get rid of me or not?"

Closing his eyes for a moment, as if he was thinking, Loke moved to place a hand on her shoulder. "Princess, I may not agree with everything he's doing, but look at it from his perspective. If something happens to him, all of this lore is lost. There's only one other person in Earthland who I would expect to be able to manage this level of knowledge. Nobody would think to go looking for him if they wanted to know. We spirits cannot teach what you don't know to ask. He is grooming you to be the next Loremaster of Celestial Magic. It's a heavy responsibility, but one that all of us, and His Majesty, feel you are capable of fulfilling."

"Loremaster?" Lucy whispered, eyes wide. "He wants me to take over as _Loremaster_? There's only two of us left, and as far as I know, Yukino isn't at the same level of power as me. There won't be a need for anyone but me to know this anytime soon."

"But you will both likely have children," Loke pointed out. "And the odds are that at least one of your children will inherit your keys. The other you may be able to teach the non-key related spells to."

"Why such a focus on Eclipse?" she asked, returning to her original statement. "Why is it so damn important that I know everything about the stupid gate? The Council confiscated everything related to the Gate during the cleanup, and I'm pretty sure it was either destroyed right away, or it got blown up when Jackal attacked the council."

The lion spirit looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Lucy…I'm not at liberty to explain everything to you. But I _can_ tell you that whenever one is built, there's usually a Heartfilia around. And what happens with the Gate changes the world."

"All either of you do is talk in riddles," Lucy spat, running her hand through her hair in frustration. "Every other time you open your mouth you tell me that you can't explain. He just insinuates everything, and that's even worse! Why I'm supposed to become the Loremaster when he's perfectly capable of fulfilling that role himself…"

"He may have lived a very long time, but it is doubtful that he is immortal," Loke cautioned. "You should take this as an opportunity Princess…"

"I don't care about learning all of this stuff," Lucy said, her anger expressing itself in the tears welling up in her eyes. "When has learning more about my magic brought me anything but heartbreak? Eclipse _still happened_. Summoning 'Stache face took away Aquarius and ended up killing everyone's parents. Maybe I just should have stopped with Urano Metria and my keys."

The tears were falling now, hard and fast. "I just want to go back to the way things were. When nobody talked about things like curses that wiped entire academies out, or when I could see the sunlight whenever I wanted. Loke, I want to go _home_ , to Fairy Tail."

Saying nothing, the lion spirit pulled her into his arms, feeling her reach up to grab his jacket and bury her face in his chest. Wrapping his arms around her, Loke let her sob, knowing that she had been holding in her grief for the entire month she had been with Acnologia. He understood her longing for the home that had been ripped away from her, the home that no longer existed for her to return to, when this was all over. In a way, he thought Acnologia had done her a kindness. While taking Lucy away in the predawn moments hadn't allowed her any chance to say her goodbyes, her time here would allow her to figure out what she was going to do now that Fairy Tail was gone.

Eventually, she had cried herself to sleep, and he carried her to the bed, noticing that the dark circles under her eyes were only getting worse as time progressed. She still wasn't sleeping more than five hours per night, and she stayed up late in a vain attempt to tire herself out. All of her spirits were worried about her. Aries had offered to make her a bed with her wool bomb, in the hopes that it would keep her nightmares away, but Lucy had refused, saying that she had to work through them. The blonde also wasn't eating as much, choosing to share whatever food Acnologia had prepared with her spirits and somehow eating less each day.

 _She can't go on like this_ , he thought, removing her shoes and placing them by the bed where she would find them when she woke. He left her keys and whip attached to her belt; Lucy hadn't felt comfortable sleeping without them since she had arrived.

As he returned to the main room, Loke found the dragon banking the already low flames on the hearth. "She might break if you keep pushing her," he said softly, knowing that Acnologia would be able to hear him, but his voice would not disturb Lucy.

"If she were to break, that would hardly be my problem," Acnologia said, moving to sit on the benches around the hearth. "What do you want Leo?"

 _Isn't that the million jewel question_ , Loke thought bitterly. He wanted Lucy to be happy. He wanted her to have all of the knowledge that was being offered to her. He wanted her to be at home, in Fairy Tail. He wanted for a good number of things to have never happened, so that none of this was necessary.

"The problem with living forever," he began slowly, not quite sure where he was going with this, "is that you see a lot of shit happen. And you remember most of it."

"You're just realizing this now?" Acnologia drawled. "I have walked among humans for four hundred years. Why do you think I limit my interactions with them?"

"I know you see the patterns," Loke bulled on, knowing that as _Draconis_ , and as Draco's pupil, Acnologia could make a lot of trouble for him, but he wanted to say this. "The paintings in the _athenaeum_ show it. You know exactly why things have been happening. And you're making sure she knows too, even if it would be simpler just to cram her head full of the knowledge and get her out of your life."

Cold grey eyes bored into Loke's. "You know that it would be irresponsible for me to believe that I will live forever. Making sure that _Heartfilia_ knows everything that there is to know will ensure that Celestial Mages will at least have the information they need to reclaim their former glory. Hopefully she will learn enough to deal with the little problem herself so I don't have to interfere again."

"That alone might break her," Loke said softly. "You do not know it, but she cares for him."

"She does not wear feathers," Acnologia stated, but it came out sounding more like a question. "And her hair is unbound."

Loke grinned slightly. "That tradition fell out of use a decade or so after the Gate was first opened," he reported. "And modern women wear their hair however they feel is stylish. Lucy just hasn't wanted to pull her hair back recently."

"So the dragon slayers have abandoned their heritage," Acnologia murmured scornfully. "Gone are the days of the _Æthelflæda_ and the _Gúþfloga_."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that," Loke demurred. "Wendy Marvell, the sky slayer, is quite fearsome when angered. And the males are not weaklings either."

"They have neglected the very things that make them dragon slayers," the dragon insisted softly. "But you say that Igneel's pupil is close to _Heartfilia_?"

"Very close," the lion agreed. "I do not envy you when she puts all of the pieces together. But she will need support if she is to come through the flames unscathed."

"She has you." A dismissive hand was waved, and Loke sighed. " _Heartfilia…_ "

"Is it because she looks like Anna, or do you just resent her for intruding upon your life?" Loke snapped, reaching the end of his patience. "You know that we spirits are bound to provide only what information we are asked for. She would be out of your life faster if you spent more time teaching her than just telling her what shelves she should have finished before the end of her time here."

" _Do not speak that name_." At the dragon's growl, Loke froze. Had he overstepped the line?

Acnologia rose from his seat, entire form tense with anger. Stalking over to where the leader of the zodiac stood, he approached until he was almost nose to nose with Loke.

" _That woman_ ," the dragon snarled, "is not to be mentioned, unless absolutely necessary. I do not speak of _oathbreakers_ , for it gives them too much recognition to be remembered after all this time. _Heartfilia_ is here because I have no other choice. If through studying with me she is able to remove that monster, than I will welcome the opportunity, however distasteful."

"They're nothing alike," Loke whispered. "You have not spent much time with Lucy, but you'll find her completely different."

"They're both _Heartfilias_ ," Acnologia sneered. "How different can they be?"

"Lucy told a hostile Celestial mage that she would let herself be killed if it meant that Aries and I would go free." Loke remembered that day, remembered the broken words coming from his master as she sat defeated in the stream, pleading not for her own life, but for the freedom of two spirits. "She fought Aquarius over the reverse summoning, and to this day she regrets destroying the key. Not because she lost a spirit, but because Aquarius took the place of her mother after Layla died." The mermaid was almost constantly watching over Lucy from the spirit world, even if she tried to deny it. "A rival guild attacked Fairy Tail in order to retrieve Lucy so that her father could marry her off to the highest bidder. Even though the entire guild was ready to protect her, Lucy would have given herself up so that they weren't hurt. During the Grand Magic Games, she would have let herself be publically humiliated to save a little girl from her guild. The Iron Dragon slayer tried his best to beat her into submission, but Lucy laughed at him."

He didn't know why he was telling these snapshots of Lucy's life to this man who obviously wasn't interested, who could care less for Lucy as a person, who only saw the ghost of a dead woman…but he felt as if he needed to fight for Lucy, to show her to this man and make him admit that maybe he had been wrong.

"She laughed at Metallicana's brat after he beat her into submission?" Acnologia asked, drawing away and returning to the hearth.

"Gajeel claims that Lucy never broke, no matter what he did. He was about to kill her, despite his orders, when Natsu stopped him." Sensing that the dragon might be willing to listen, Loke pressed on. "She's always willing to go beyond what seems to be her limit if she can protect the people she cares about. The other keyholder, Yukino Aguria, once offered Lucy her keys, completing the zodiac, but Lucy turned them down because she didn't want to break the bonds between them. With the right motivation, she could learn everything you have to teach her and more, but right now, she's exhausted and terrified, and she feels as if she's being kept prisoner."

"I am not a kind master," Acnologia warned darkly. "She will not find me forgiving or coddling."

"Respect her," Loke suggested desperately. "Challenge her. Treat her as a true student, not an inconvenience. Try teaching her the old ways, the histories, not just magic. Without context, some of what she's learning won't make sense. Things have changed too much in the outside world. Let her outside to breathe the fresh air and see the sky. Teach her to hunt, and to track, so that you don't have to worry about her running away. Just _teach_ her. Like Draco taught you."

Loke waited for a response, but the dragon simply sat looking into the glowing embers of the hearth, as if he was trying to see something in them. Eventually the spirit closed his gate, knowing that he or another of Lucy's spirits would be needed when she invariably woke screaming from her nightmare.

* * *

"Get up." At Acnologia's command, Lucy looked up, startled. She hadn't heard him entering the _athenaeum_ , so deeply immersed in her book. Sagittarius was with her today, since she tried to rotate who she summoned to accommodate their schedules and make sure they didn't feel neglected. The spirit exchanged looks with her, and Lucy slowly got up, wondering what was going on.

"Today you will have a practical lesson. I will have to blindfold you. Stand before me."

Looking at Sagittarius, Lucy nervously did as Acnologia asked, her palms sweating as the dragon wrapped a long strip of cloth around her eyes. _Loke won't let anything bad happen to me. Neither will Sagittarius. It will be fine._

A rough hand seized each elbow, and Lucy found herself propelled out of the _athenaeum_ and into the main cave. She tried to follow where they were going, but Acnologia was moving her too quickly. They seemed to pass into another space, where Lucy could hear the wind more strongly than she could before, and then she felt the sun on her face, and almost cried. He had taken her outside. For the first time in a month, she was outside.

He undid the blindfold, and Lucy found herself standing in the entrance to a cave, looking out over a range of jagged mountains. The early September sun still shone as bright as the summer sun, but the cool breeze replaced the stifling humidity. Tipping her face up to take in the sun, Lucy breathed deeply.

"Today you will learn to trap," Acnologia said behind her. "There is not much in these mountains, so we will be going to a nearby forest. To do so, I will have to fly. You will be carried in my claw."

And with that, he changed, and Lucy found herself clutched in a scaly claw, and the scream died in her throat as they launched into the air.

Everything looked different from up here. Acnologia flew relatively low, likely to not attract much attention, weaving around the mountain peaks like they were familiar streets. In a few short minutes, they had arrived at a forest, and Lucy found herself being dropped when she was still a meter above the ground. Instinctively, she tucked herself into a ball and rolled, coming up on her feet. It was a hard learned skill, one that she had had to push down her pride and ask Vijeeter, of all people, to teach her. He had been exceedingly patient and kind about it, and it _was_ nice to be around someone who remembered that a human body was a lot more fragile than everyone else remembered.

Acnologia had shifted back as she rolled, watching her with an inscrutable look on his face. "Come. And try to be quiet."

Moving even more gracefully than the dragon slayers Lucy knew, he slipped into the forest, leaving her to hurry behind. She couldn't keep up with his long strides, but she tried to call forth the way she had learned to walk when she was still the Heartfilia heiress, making no sound as she floated down hallways and across dance floors in thin slippers that would be thrown out after she had gone to bed. Slippers, however impractical, had been better than heels in her opinion, because they didn't leave her feet aching at the end of the night.

Even though he _should_ have stood out, with his blue markings and grey hair, Acnologia blended in surprisingly well, slipping silently between the trees in a way that made Lucy constantly worry she would lose him. In comparison, she felt like a bumbling fool, almost tripping over roots, even in her sensible boots, her hair snagging on overhanging branches, since she hadn't felt like putting it up while trapped in the cave. _I'll have to get Cancer to cut it,_ she thought distractedly, eyes fixed on the man in front of her.

He stopped, and she halted behind him, waiting for his next order. It was cool and dark under the canopy, and Lucy could hear birdsong, and what were probably small animals rummaging around in the underbrush.

"We do not need much more meat for the winter," he said softly, his voice hard to hear, even in the quiet of the forest. "But the pelts will be valuable when I trade for supplies. Rabbit pelts are especially prized. Today you will learn how to trap rabbits."

And he walked her through how to construct a simple snare, using a length of rope he had brought with him, tucked in a pocket of his pants. He made her set up and disassemble the snare several times, until he was satisfied with her method, and then they moved, and he showed her how to spot a rabbit trail, and how to position the snare for maximum chance of success. Once they had set the snare, he led the way back out of the forest, Lucy trailing behind him.

They flew back to the cave, and despite her best efforts, Lucy still had no idea where they were. Standing in the entrance, she looked out over the peaks and valleys, wondering if she would get to see the sky tomorrow, or if she would have to wait another month.

"Meditate," the dragon snapped, drawing her out of her thoughts. "I want to see where you're at."

Confused about why he had suddenly decided to start acting like at teacher, Lucy dropped down on the stone floor and assumed her meditation pose, closing her eyes and letting her thoughts drift away as her magic power swelled around her. Lost in the haze of meditation, she obeyed the faint commands barked by the dragon, stretching and compressing her magic as he ordered.

When she was allowed to come out of her meditative state, the dragon was scowling. "Summon Capricorn, I want to see you spar."

Now even more confused, Lucy summoned the goat spirit and relayed the orders. Facing off across the large empty space of the cave, Lucy reached for her keys, intending to summon Loke, but Acnologia snapped: "No summoning. Just your fists and whatever weapons you have."

 _Well, this will be over quickly,_ Lucy thought grimly as Capricorn advanced. Ducking under his fist with a practice born of spending any time in the guild hall, she reached for her whip. It didn't do her any good. Capricorn had helped her train for the Grand Magic Games, and she was certain that he knew far more tricks against her whip than even she did. Noting the supremely unimpressed look on Acnologia's face, Lucy decided to pull out her trump card, knowing that it couldn't hurt.

 _It's going to be rough without Gemini to help, but I'm pretty fresh, so I should be able to pull this off alone._ "Survey the heavens, open the heavens…"

"Stop!" Acnologia called, and he stalked over to Lucy. "Were you being deliberately ignorant when I asked what your bloodline was yesterday?"

Unnerved by the venom in his voice, Lucy found herself taking a step backwards. "N-no," she stuttered, tightening her grip on her whip. "I still don't understand."

"Why were you going to take a risk in using that spell?" he hissed, advancing on her again. "Did I not tell you that you were not ready to attempt them? I recognize Urano Metria."

"I've always been able to use that spell," Lucy whispered, her back now against the wall, no other retreat left to her. "Ever since it was given to me."

"Given to you?" he asked, his voice going cold. "Tell me, how were you _given_ this spell?"

Lucy found herself stuttering through an explanation of the fight with Angel, describing how Hibiki had imported the knowledge into her head, and then she had to learn it all over again on her own…

"You are very lucky," Acnologia said, backing off. "By all rights, you should have blown yourself up, messing with matters beyond your knowledge. If I ever see this… _Hibiki_ , I will have to show him how I feel about carelessly handing out Celestial spells." There was an undercurrent of menace in his voice that made Lucy shiver, and pity the poor Archival mage.

"Why should I have blown myself up?" Lucy couldn't help but ask. "What's different about Celestial spells than other spells?"

"Each Celestial Mage is born with an…affinity, I believe is the current translation. We used to refer to it as bloodline. You will have seen mention of that in your books."

"Oh, affinity and bloodline are the same things?" Lucy clarified. "I still don't know what mine is, but I know what you're talking about now."

"Moving on." It appeared that the dragon didn't appreciate her interruption. "All Celestial spells are classed by bloodline. Only those with the proper bloodline are capable of wielding certain spells. A Leo bloodline cannot use an Aries-bloodline spell. They are two completely different natures. Occasionally, Celestial Mages are born with a secondary bloodline, but it is rare, and usually similar to the dominant bloodline."

"So, if I hadn't been of the bloodline that Urano Metria is from, I wouldn't be able to use it?" Lucy murmured. "And if I had tried, I might have died?"

"Correct," the dragon drawled. "But at least now we know that you're a Leo bloodline. Urano Metria's a battle spell, and that's his forte. We'll still have to test on whether that's your only bloodline, or if it's the dominant bloodline, but that's a fair bit of groundwork done."

"What's your bloodline?" Lucy asked before she could stop herself.

He gazed coolly at her, but surprisingly enough, he answered. "I am a Leo as well. That is my only bloodline. Most of the line of Draco were Leo."

"How do you find out what bloodline you are?" she blurted out. "And what are the signs of someone who has a second bloodline.

"You tell me," he said with a shrug. "It's in your readings, you should be able to infer it. But you will not be learning spells. Not until you are better prepared."

"What do you mean?" she asked, frustrated. "All you do is tell me I'm not ready, or I don't know anything."

"Both are true." Acnologia shrugged. "However, it has recently been suggested that I treat you as a true student. So I shall. Lucy Heartfilia, you will be the first person in four centuries to be trained as a child of the Draco line would have been trained. You may back out at any time, but know that choosing to do so will mean that we return to our original relationship."

 _So…he'll be hands on with me and teach me as he was taught,_ Lucy reasoned slowly. _Or we'll go back to me having to blindly work through the invisible hoops he sets for me._ She considered her options, trying to assess exactly how much hell she was going to submit herself to if she allowed Acnologia to truly teach her.

"I'll do it," she said firmly, meeting his eyes. "I'll take the training. If it means I'll be able to protect my friends when I'm done, so that I never have to summon 'Stache Face again, I'll do it."

"Five laps around the cave."

"What?" _That's not the response I thought I would get._

"The proper form of address for Orion, King of the Celestial World, is _His Majesty_. Not _'Stache Face_. Run five laps around the cave interior, close enough that you will hit the wall if you drift too much."

Seeing that he wasn't going to compromise on this, Lucy obligingly began running. _Apparently he didn't get the memo that the old man was okay with me calling him that. It does feel good to stretch my legs like this though._

A rock hit her ankle. Not one large enough to cause damage, but it stung. "Move faster. A child could outrun you."

 _Is it too late to back out?_

 *****Well, things are changing. Part of me thinks this won't be too many chapters long, since there's not much happening in the middle of nowhere. But I'll hit the highlights.**

 **Expect to see** ** _Raise Your Glass_** **updated soon, since the last two chapters are drafted and just need a little revision before they get posted.**

 **Hope everyone enjoys!*****


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

 _He is a slave driver_ , Lucy thought bitterly, running laps around the outer cavern. _An absolute slave driver_.

Acnologia seemed to deal with any insubordination from her in the same way: laps. According to him, her stamina was atrocious, and her attitude needed work. So she consistently had racked up fifteen or so laps by the time he led her into the outer cave for training. But it wasn't just running. He would stand in the center of the cave and toss pebbles at her if he felt that she wasn't running fast enough, or pushing herself enough. _And he never missed_.

Another pebble hit her shin. "Pick it up."

Grudgingly, she picked up the pace, pushing her tired muscles beyond what she felt was their capability. While she had mastered the fast sprint out of necessity, prolonged running was not one of her capabilities. If it was just running, she might be able to manage, but it was running after a grueling session of hand-to-hand combat, with Capricorn as her sparring partner, and Acnologia barking out orders as he prowled around them. And before _that_ , he took her out into the forest and taught her what could only be classed as survival skills. How to set snares and traps. How to move silently in the forest. How to track. Things that she had never expected to learn as the Heartfilia heiress.

That was just the mornings. In the afternoons, she was expected to read whatever he had assigned to her, and he quizzed her over dinner. The dragon never seemed to be satisfied with her answers, always pushing her harder, pointing out flaws in her answers, or places where she simply glossed over a detail that was surprisingly complicated. When she snapped at him in frustration, he just added laps to her time.

The hot springs in his cave were her new favorite place to spend time. Originally it had been in front of the hearth, listening to the crackling of the low fire that burned constantly, but now Acnologia had taken to frequenting the hearth in the evenings. If she attempted to relax there, he tended to continue his interrogation of her, or assign her further reading material. At least the evening reading was usually history, starting with more modern history and moving backwards once he was satisfied with her knowledge.

She had asked him once why he didn't start her with the beginning of history, and he and looked at her, the inscrutable look on his face that she had learned in the two months she had been with him in this cave, the look that meant that he wasn't going to answer her. Lucy had learned to live with the fact that she was never going to get him to tell her something unless he wanted to explain a detail. He was a difficult taskmaster: impossible to please, exacting in his attention to detail, and overly formal. Since he had begun teaching her, she had been expected to follow certain patterns of behavior that he had taught her, ones she suspected had fallen out of common use in the four centuries he had lived.

Her hair was not allowed to be bound back out of her face unless she was training, and when she was done, she was expected to release it. That one he hadn't explained, but Loke had hemmed and hawed through some convoluted, half-assed explanation that left her more confused, but with a sense that it had something to do with her relationship status. Since Acnologia was prone to invading her personal space in order to take down her hair, usually in a manner that destroyed the hair tie, she let the matter be. It was annoying at times, since her hair was growing longer, but she remembered her conversation with Wendy, just before she left, and couldn't bear to cut it short.

If she was eating with him, she was expected to wait until he had begun before starting her own food. Loke had actually managed an explanation for this one: it was an old hospitality ritual, signifying that the food was safe to consume.

There were a few other things that were different, mainly dealing with her not mouthing off to him, and how she was expected to structure her day, but they were the hardest to remember, and therefore the cause of most of her punishment laps. The one good thing about her situation is that she was never penalized for failing at some aspect of her training. If she couldn't block a strike, or was not able to successfully track whatever he had told her to follow, he simply repeated the lesson the next day. However, if he thought she was slacking off, and not simply failing at an honest attempt…she had done that once, on their third day of formal training, and he had driven her into the ground in return.

Whatever her complaints about him, Lucy had to admit that Acnologia was a strict, unyielding, but good teacher. She knew that she was learning far more and far faster than she would have if left to her own devices. Now that she was truly studying under him, not just sitting in the _athenaeum_ and reading all day, she was allowed to go outside. He still blindfolded her each time, but seeing the sun again, and feeling the breeze…it was worth it.

When he had called out her last lap, Lucy took herself out onto the ledge outside the cave, letting her exhausted legs hang over the edge as the cool October breeze washed over her. She had noticed that Acnologia was building the hearth fire up more now, and the cave's temperature, both the inner part and the part that he trained her in, was cooler. Lucy wondered if it would get even colder, and hoped that she wouldn't have to go out in the snow. Before Tenrou, she hadn't been able to make enough money to pay her rent, buy groceries, _and_ buy a winter wardrobe. And then they came back, and it was summer again, and she didn't need it. But now it was October, and she was in the mountains, far from electricity or central heating. Or a clothing store. _Maybe I could give him some money and ask him to buy me some clothes? Virgo might be able to bring me clothes from the Celestial world, but I think he wouldn't like that…_

"Speak your mind," he growled from behind her. "You are fussing over something, and it will distract you if I let you continue."

Twisting, Lucy found him perched on a boulder outside the cave, seemingly at ease in the sun, or as close to _at ease_ as she ever saw him. Even in their evening conversations, he seemed ready to jump into a fight at any moment.

"I can scent your worry from over here," he said, answering her unspoken question. "And you run your fingers through your hair when you're thinking."

Taking a deep breath, Lucy admitted: "I don't have warm clothing."

He raised his eyebrow at her, but said nothing.

"I have some money, but there's nowhere to buy clothes," she babbled, unsure of why she felt the need to keep talking. "And the breeze made me think about how close we are to winter, and how if it keeps getting colder, I'm going to need warmer clothing…"

"Leo had orders to pack what you would need," the dragon interrupted. "Did he not do so?"

"It's not Loke's fault," Lucy snapped, eyes flashing. "I don't _have_ winter clothes."

Now her teacher looked irritated. "Did they get lost or something? Or did you just appear in Earthland without anything but the clothes on your back?"

"Don't mock me," the blonde spat, balling her hands into fists. "I left home in April x784. My father wanted me to be a good little heiress and marry whoever would further his business interests. Instead I joined Fairy Tail in July. And then we went to Tenrou in December, and I'm sure you haven't forgotten what happened there. When we came back, it was spring again, and this time before we could get to winter, Tartarus attacked, and I think you know the end of _that_ part of the story. December x784 I was barely managing to pay my rent, let alone buy winter clothing. Besides, Natsu and the others usually damage enough of my wardrobe to make replacing what I've just lost more of a priority than planning for the future."

The dragon said nothing, but he motioned for her to stand. "It is time for you to go back inside now," he said as he approached her. "Prepare to be blindfolded."

That night, there was a new component to her lessons: sewing. After dinner had been finished, and the dishes cleaned, Acnologia had told her to wait by the hearth, and disappeared into the store room, coming back with several hides and what seemed to be sewing supplies.

"Do you know how to sew, or must I teach you that too?" he asked, setting the hides and sewing supplies down in front of her.

"I know how to embroider," Lucy said, looking at the pile of material in front of her. "Does that count?"

He looked at her for a moment, and then said: "Make the outline of a vest for you. When you finish that, we will line it with fur to keep you warm."

Sorting through the supplies, Lucy was gladdened and surprised to see a normal pair of metal scissors. As she examined the hides he had brought out, she thought over the vests she had seen in stores before she had left Magnolia, and chose one she thought would do well. Setting it aside, the blonde went into the bedroom and found a tee shirt that was slightly large on her. _If I'm going to be lining it, I need to remember to make some space._ While she had never made her own clothing, she had stood through enough fittings to understand the basics of what she needed to do.

By the end of that night, she had gotten all of the pieces cut out. Two nights later, as she struggled to adjust the fit so that it was reasonably snug on her, Acnologia took pity on her and suggested that she use Gemini as a model. Another week of sewing, made more frustrating by how hard it was to put a needle through what appeared to be deerskin, and she had what Acnologia referred to as the outline of a vest.

"You will line it with rabbit fur, to help keep warm." Acnologia instructed, presenting her with the pelts. "These are the only pelts you will get for this garment. Do not make mistakes."

Rolling her eyes at him, Lucy accepted the furs and started laying them out over her vest. Carefully, she began sewing them to the hides, humming softly to herself as she did so. Without the usual noises of the city or a lacrima radio, the cave had become too quiet for her preferences.

She was aware of the dragon looming over her, watching her as she stitched, working along the long seam. He surprised her by saying: "You have learned to do this very well."

Lucy shrugged. "I don't like to fail. And it's not that different from embroidery."

"I wouldn't know," he said, and Lucy felt him move until he came back into her range of vision, sitting across from her at the hearth, now their standard gathering place after the evening meal. "While learning how to sew became necessary, embroidery was not."

"Do you make all of your own clothes?" she asked, her original animosity faded to curiosity and annoyance over some of his training methods.

"Ever since my parents died," he said shortly. "I had to. Use smaller stitches; those will tear easily."

Looking down at her work, Lucy saw that her stitches had been getting large, and corrected her mistake. "Were you very young?"

"Ten."

"Who took care of you? Did you go to Andromeda, or was that when you started training under Draco?" The man had thus far refused to answer personal questions. Tonight was the most open he had been with her.

"When my parents died, I became _Draconis_ ," he said quietly. "Draco took me on not long after that. I was thirteen when I next saw the _Andromedaera_. She came to me offering a match, for the betterment of both our lines, she said."

There was a bitterness in his tone as he spoke about the _Andromedaera_ , and Lucy sat quietly, working on her sewing, hoping he would go on, but unwilling to risk losing his openness.

"You don't understand what it was like, living in the shadow of the Civil War. It wasn't our war, unless we enlisted and became slayers, but they only took young children. None of the Celestial mages ever went that route, using their own magic to defend their homes and families from the beasts. But even though we weren't a part of it, the war still ruined us all. They didn't care whether or not we were a part of it. Many good families died by dragon fire. And it was dragon fire that birthed the monsters that walk this world today."

"I suppose we're similar in a way," Acnologia said pensively, his tone dark. Lucy lifted her eyes from her seam to see him staring into the fire. "Two boys, left adrift in the ashes of a war that was never our own. But I wouldn't have walked the path that he did. The dead are beyond us, all the living can do is bury them. For the sake of appeasing my loss, I rid the world of the monsters that were the cause of the world's suffering. Yet for the sake of appeasing his own loss…in his refusal to acknowledge it, he created even worse monsters."

He shifted, and the firelight caught his face in just the right way, and Lucy saw him anew, for the first time, as an ancient warrior, proud and fearsome. "They call me a monster, but he…he made himself into one without a single backwards thought. There are those who worship him, worship what he created…"

"Who?" Lucy asked softly, knowing that he might clam up, and would likely take it out on her in training the next day.

Acnologia's eyes rose to meet hers, and she was paralyzed by the loathing that she saw there. " _Zeref_ ," he hissed, and Lucy felt her blood run cold.

Eventually, he broke the contact between them, and Lucy could breathe again. Returning to her sewing, she finished the section she was working on before slipping off to bed, her dreams filled with the young man she had seen on Tenrou, and surprisingly enough, Acnologia facing off against the dark wizard.

* * *

Contrary to her fears, Lucy had winter clothing by the time the winter snow fell in the middle of November. Acnologia had finally consented to teach her spells, and she was progressing slowly, her physical training still occupying the majority of their time. He had determined that Leo was her secondary bloodline, and Sagittarius her dominant. The dragon had chuckled slightly, saying that it made sense. Upon devouring several texts outside what Acnologia had assigned her, Lucy had to agree. Sagittarius class spells were a mixture of defensive and offensive spells, perfect for her fighting style.

Slinking through the woods, dressed in her new leggings and vest, layered over a turtleneck she had brought from her own wardrobe, Lucy concentrated on following the trail in front of her. Acnologia hadn't removed her blindfold after leading her out of the cave, instead flying with her to their usual hunting grounds, dropping her in the fresh powder, and telling her to wait five minutes before tracking him, using only her own methods, no keys.

He had been kind enough to stick to the ground for the first part of the test, leaving easily found footprints in the fresh snow. But as he had pressed further into the forest, where little snow passed through the dense canopy and the ground was frozen solid, she was forced to put more of the tricks he taught her to use.

She eventually came to a rocky section that she had never been to before, and Lucy had to stop. There was no trail to follow. With one last thing to try, she closed her eyes and opened her senses, as if she was meditating, reaching out into the forest around her.

 _All beings have magical power, even if it's too little to use_ she remembered her teachers, all the way back at the Konzern, telling her. _Mages are the ones who have usable power, and choose to train it._ Animals weren't exempt from this. Focusing outwards instead of inwards during meditation allowed her to track the magical power of others, and had the added bonus of enhancing her other senses as well.

 _Squirrels, a den of rabbits…is that a_ bear _? A wolf just passing through, the herd of deer from earlier…there he is. He must have circled back from here._ Opening her eyes, Lucy eyed the dense network of branches above her head and smiled. _Let's see the hunter become the hunted_.

It was an abject failure, but she thought the attempt was worth remembering. Acnologia's only response to her dropping down from the tree directly over his head was to step aside and tell her that she was too slow. But when he brought her back to the cave, he didn't have her summon Capricorn, and instead passed her a stave of wood that she recognized as being from the storeroom.

"Any proper Sagittarius should have her own bow," he said, and Lucy felt as proud as she had on the day that she had been entrusted with Aquarius's key, her first ever. Instead of making her practice blocking and striking, he instead walked her through shaping the bow. That night, instead of sewing, he taught her how to braid a bowstring.

By mid-December, the snow lay heavy on the ground, and her bow was ready. Sagittarius himself taught her how to shoot, using the straw targets that Acnologia provided, and the two of them slowly began to converse in the evenings while Lucy alternatively sewed or fletched arrows, choosing bright hawk feathers while he preferred goose feathers as grey as his hair.

Sometimes Lucy forgot that the modern world existed. In the cave, there were few reminders. She had learned how to use Acnologia's primitive kitchen with ease, and kindled a fire for cooking or heating water with as little thought as turning a tap had taken. Her clothing was now mostly made of hide and fur, crafted painstakingly in the evenings with Acnologia and Virgo's guidance over what had been appropriate for a woman four hundred years ago. Occasionally she caught herself thinking that it wouldn't be too bad if she stayed here for the rest of her life.

She had a sneaking suspicion that she was almost finished learning the magic that Acnologia's oath had required her to learn. Lucy had performed all of the spells that she was able to, most of which were general Celestial spells that defended a building, or called down light to attack an opponent, and she had learned her bloodline spells. Loke had preened for days afer she completed the last of the Leo spells, and she had found herself bonding more with Sagittarius as he taught her to shoot. All of her spirits were closer with her now, since she had at least one gate open all the time, pushing her magic's limits further and further by the day. Life with dragon slayers had taught her that they would always win any fight against her, but she knew now that they would be leaving with some pretty significant damage if she had anything to say about it.

There was only one thing left in her books for her to learn, a vague reference to something called a _Star Dance_ , but Acnologia brushed her off every time she asked him about it, and Lucy figured it was better to be patient. A little over three months of living with the dragon had taught her that he was even more stubborn than Natsu, and if he had made up his mind, there was no moving him. Even now, without any attempts at escaping, Lucy still didn't know how to exit the living part of the cave. He didn't trust her, or he was content to let her remain ignorant.

As she sat, embroidering the front of her most recent vest, using thread that Acnologia had showed her how to dye using materials they had gathered from the woods where they hunted, Lucy wondered what the others were doing. She could sometimes forget that Fairy Tail had disbanded, living in the cave in the middle of nowhere, but she would catch sight of the missing guild mark on her hand, and the memories would come back. It was one of the reasons she considered staying for as long as Acnologia would have her. There was nothing left for her in the outer world, and she still had about half of his collection of books waiting unread for her.

Lifting her eyes from the vest in front of her, Lucy studied the dragon sitting across the hearth, hands busy working on arrows for himself. She had grown to enjoy his quiet company in the last two months, appreciating his skill and his knowledge. Levy might have been able to discuss books and history with her, but Acnologia was capable of explaining the nuances behind pivotal moments, and debating Celestial Magic theories with her. Lucy was well versed in everything related to the Eclipse Gate, even though neither the dragon nor any of her spirits would tell her _why_ it was so important she understand it. _Whoever came up with this was brilliant_ , she had said to Acnologia after their first discussion about the theory behind it, and he had looked at her oddly and simply said: _Genius is often accompanied by madness_. When she had attempted to find out more about the author of the definitive text Acnologia had on the subject, he had shut her inquiries down, leaving her only with the author's name, written under the title on the flyleaf: _Z. Dragoneel_. Lucy wondered if it was one of Natsu's ancestors, and that was why Natsu himself was a little bit mad, but since Acnologia wasn't talking, and Crux wouldn't answer, she gave up.

"You have met the terms of my oath," Acnologia said from across the fire, as if he had sensed her eyes on him. _He probably did,_ she thought ruefully, thinking of how perceptive he had proven to be. "I have no further reason to hold you here. If you wish, I will return you to Magnolia tomorrow."

Lucy didn't know what to say. _Would he think that I'm being too forward if I asked to stay? We've just finished my bow a week ago, and I'm still making arrows. And I've come to like it here, even if I hated it at first._ And in the deepest corner of her heart, she knew that she had come to accept the quiet dragon as a part of her life, someone to fill the void left by her absent guild. _There's nothing for me in Magnolia._

"But before you go, I have a story to tell you. One that is very long, and very complicated, but it is important to you as it has been to nobody else before." His eyes were fixed on hers, and Lucy felt her breath stop. "There will be many things you don't like about it. You will be angry, and hurt, if I am any judge of your character after teaching you. But you must hear it, and you must listen to the end. Lives depend on the outcome of this story, and they may depend on you. Do you understand me, Lucy Heartfilia?"

Setting aside her embroidery, Lucy swallowed hard. She had no idea what this story was going to be about, but from the tone in his voice, he was sure of her responses to it. "I do, _Draconis_ ," she murmured respectfully, bowing her head as Loke and Virgo had taught when they taught her proper manners that Acnologia would respect, even if they had fallen out of use in the four centuries between them. "I will listen."

 *****And next chapter is story time. It was actually one large chapter, but in the end Beta and I decided it was best to split it up. Hope you all enjoy! See you next Friday for the next chapter of** ** _Frontlines_** **.*****


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

Nodding curtly, Acnologia began, his voice compelling as he described days that Lucy knew he hadn't even seen, in all of his long years. Days before the Dragon Civil War, days when Mildean Academy of Magic flourished, attracting the best and brightest young minds from all over the world.

"And there came to the Academy a young boy, orphaned in a dragon attack that claimed his parents and younger brother. He astonished the professors and students with his knowledge, and his focus; for, unable to accept the death of his beloved younger brother, the boy delved into the magic of death and life, magic which is beyond the scope of human beings. In his research, he came across the R-system, a massive lacrima designed to resurrect the dead, but it was dismissed for two reasons. One, it was considered too costly, in terms of the magic power it required, and two: it violated the natural order of life and death."

"Zeref?" Lucy asked, but the dragon ignored her, and continued his story.

"Undeterred, the boy began researching anew, drawing upon the vast stores of knowledge available to him. And as he was nearly finished with his research into his next project, the Eclipse Gate, the council of elders of the academy voted unanimously for his expulsion. He was too dangerous with his fixation on bringing back his younger brother, even going so far as to change time itself, to be allowed to study unhindered. But before, or as a result of his expulsion, everyone in the academy was killed, and for years, nobody could enter without perishing themselves."

 _Oh dear Mavis,_ Lucy thought desperately. _Z. Dragoneel. Zeref Dragoneel. But what is his relationship to Natsu? Father and son?_ _Does Natsu know? Did Igneel know?_

"Later, it was discovered that he was cursed by the god Ankhserum himself, cursed to take lives the more he valued them, spare them the more he abhorred them, and through it all, to live untouched by the ravages of time. As the years passed, he devoted himself fervently to two topics: the resurrection of his beloved younger brother, and a method to kill himself. He created demon after demon, discarding them carelessly as they failed to damage him, with little regard for the horrors they would wreak upon the earth."

"At the same time, tensions among the dragons boiled up into a civil war. One that lasted without any one side gaining an advantage, until the advent of dragon slayers. Humans were dying like flies, between the civil war, and the demons released by Zeref without care. And in the midst of this chaos, three children were born, and a weapon was created."

"The eldest of the children was me, by three months. Draco's line had withered, as the war raged on, for we lived in what was one of the favored battle grounds of the dragons, too proud of our heritage to leave. An attack one night left our family home in ashes, with nothing but the library, which had been stored deep underground by generations past due to the danger of dragon fire, and the two heirs. My sister and I survived, but only because we had been hidden underground by our mother, who went back out to look for our father. When morning arrived, there was nothing left standing, and I was _Draconis_ , a little boy of ten years, entrusted with our knowledge and my five year old sister, the youngest of the three children born in the chaos who would shape the world as you know it."

"Second, and three months younger than me, was the last _Andromedaera_ , Anna Heartfilia, who took up the title at age sixteen when her mother, the previous _Andromedaera_ passed on. We were trothplighted at the tender age of thirteen, arranged by her mother and me as a necessity to ensure the survival of the line of Draco, and to strengthen Andromeda. Fire Village had just fallen, and the _Phoenixa_ was missing, presumed dead or immortal. It was arranged that we would marry at the age of eighteen, when my sister entered her thirteenth year."

Acnologia paused, staring into the flames. "The dragons were growing more desperate by the day, as the number of slayers grew, since the humans were growing tired of being civilian casualties. I had received my training separately, from Draco himself, and was regarded warily by Igneel, the leader of the pro-human faction, and his council of advisors. They did not trust me, and I did not trust them. For all of their talk of getting along with humans, they appeared to care little for human lives. At the age of ten, my sister begged to be trained as a slayer, and Draco could not train another. So it was with many misgivings that I allowed her to join the other children training to become dragon slayers, especially since she was much older than the other children. Igneel and the others welcomed her, and I suspect they were eager to have the leverage against me, or a way to bind me to them."

"At that time, the slayers were trained by whatever dragons were available, not the usual system of a single master and apprentice as was traditional, due to the larger number of students than dragons. Hosted in a small village, they learned the basics, and then went on to specialize at the age of thirteen with whatever dragon was available."

"Elani was twelve when she and her yearmates were sent into hostile territory, destroying a dragon's nest. I remember her last letter to me, and how it smelled of her tears and remorse. They hadn't been told what their mission was, and it turns out, that it was unsanctioned. The dragon who took them out had lost his mate to the other side, and he wanted revenge. In return, the anti-human dragons found and destroyed the village where the slayers were being hosted, killing all of them. By the time I arrived there, intending to berate Igneel for allowing such a mission, Elani was dead, along with all of the other children. And Igneel and his council apologized for the loss, but explained that war was war, and that was how things went sometimes."

"I asked what punishment the dragon who had led the mission, and therefore compromised the camp, would receive. Igneel answered that they would not allow him to be punished, because they had so few fighters, and now they were short on slayers as well. At that moment, the dragon civil war now had a third participant: me."

"Setting aside my duties as _Draconis_ , I hunted every dragon I could find, regardless of their affiliation. One side had killed my sister, the other had allowed it to go unpunished. At some point that year, I made the shift for the first time. I believe that was when Igneel first began to fear me."

"Together with his advisors, they found four orphans who would not be missed, and began training them as slayers. Igneel himself took on a weapon: Zeref's demise, cloaked in the form of his beloved younger brother. I do not know how they met, or why they chose to ally with each other, but together they hatched a plan, bringing in _Andromedaera_ Anna Heartfilia because she currently held the twelve gate keys needed to operate the Eclipse Gate. And one day, the day when I slew the last dragon outside of Igneel and his council, they opened the gate, and the dragons passed out of all knowledge. Anna Heartfilia died soon after, childless, and her younger sister took up the mantle she left behind, unrecognized by the stars. My betrothal to Anna was broken that day, since she had worked against me with those named as my enemies. Zeref retreated back into the darkness, and I was left alone, bound by my oath to teach, and my own personal oath of vengeance."

"Four hundred years passed. Through the centuries I wandered, waiting for Igneel and the others to appear. Several times I clashed with Zeref, and I made a point of studying his history, looking for ways to defeat him, or clues to how he had constructed his weapon. I was determined to be ready when they appeared again."

"And then, on July 7, x777, the Gate opened, thanks to one of Anna's descendants. When I arrived, called by the magic of the gate, the woman who had opened the gate was dead, and there was no sign of dragons or slayers. I investigated the Heartfilia Konzern for several weeks, trying to see where they had disappeared to, but there were no traces."

At Lucy's startled squeak, he nodded. "The woman who opened the gate was your mother, Layla Heartfilia. As best as I can tell, she didn't have one of the twelve keys, and sacrificed herself to open it, following notes left by Anna and Zeref. I am sorry for your loss, and that she was entangled in this sordid mess without full knowledge of what it entailed."

Lucy felt the tears welling up in her eyes, but she understood now. It had always been strange to her how her mother sickened so quickly and died. Nobody had ever given her a straight answer about what had happened, except to claim that it had to do with Magic Deprivation. If she had sacrificed her magic to open the gate…knowing what she did now about the Gate, Lucy could now understand how and why her mother had died.

Acnologia continued, his voice soft. "I knew nothing of the slayers until around x784, when the exploits of _the Salamander_ and _Black Steel Gajeel_ , became well known. Gathering information led me to discover the whereabouts of three of the five slayer children that had come through the Gate, and that was what led me to Tenrou. Sensing Zeref there only gave me more of a reason to blow it off the map. Seeing you…you look as if Anna herself had been resurrected in you. It enraged me. We both know how that day ended." He had the grace to look slightly ashamed.

"The next seven years were spent searching for the other two slayer children, and trying to figure out where the dragons had gone. But I stayed far away, since the royal family was building another Gate. I didn't know if something was happening, if Igneel and the others were supposed to come through later, once their slayers had been established in this world…it was best to wait and see."

"You returned in x791, and the news made me destroy several acres of forest in my rage. All five slayers, plus you, who reminded me of Anna, walked the earth again. The night the gate was open, I waited in anticipation, wondering what would happen. Imagine my surprise when dragons long dead appeared! If I hadn't been put out by the thought of having to kill them all again, I would have laughed. But it did tell me that none of the slayers, or the two hybrids that the humans created, could stand against a true dragon. It was something I had suspected, after Tenrou, but now it was confirmed. I did not have to fear the slayers."

"For the next month, I tried to understand what had happened to the dragons who had taught the slayers. I was aware that Zeref's demons were moving again, but I dismissed it. They tended to get restless every century or so. It wasn't worth getting involved in, until…"

"Until I summoned 'Stache face," Lucy whispered, hand over her mouth. "Oh Mavis. All of this…and does this mean Natsu's…?"

"The younger brother of Zeref Dragoneel, resurrected for the purpose of ending his miserable existence?" Acnologia replied softly. "Yes. I don't know how he did it, but Zeref managed to bring him back as a weapon."

"Were the dragons really like that?" Lucy asked, unable to pair the Igneel that Natsu boasted about with the Igneel that Acnologia described. "Were they really cold and heartless?"

"I always found them that way," Acnologia confirmed. "In my opinion, they had been allowed to play as gods for so long that they forgot about the rest of us. We were pieces on a chessboard. They probably loved their students. Igneel was remarkably sentimental, and Grandeena was the one I was able to tolerate the most. She always advocated for protecting humans, not just for not eating them, and she did apologize to me for the death of my sister. Metallicana was grumpy with everyone, and the other two were quieter. I didn't know them very well."

Lucy felt the tears drip down her face, and she realized that she didn't know who she was crying for. For Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue, who were probably taken on as students for the sole purpose of defeating Acnologia, however much their parents did come to love them? Or was she crying for Natsu, who had no knowledge of the fate weighing on him? Were her tears for herself, with her mother dead because the dragons had been so desperate to kill the man in front of her that they had travelled four hundred years in the future?

 _Or were they for Acnologia, who may have taken his revenge too far, but it had been a difficult time to live in, full of difficult decisions being made, and he has had to live with them for four centuries._

Acnologia seemed to sense this, and as Lucy blinked, setting off a new cascade of tears, she found him kneeling in front of her, and his hand reached out to brush away her tears, the callouses on his fingers rough against her skin. "Don't waste your sympathy on me," he whispered, and Lucy could feel his body heat, he was so close to her. "I'm not worth it."

"Everyone's worth it," she whispered back brokenly, reaching out to cup his face in her hand, wondering how long it had been since he had someone in his life. "Except maybe Zeref."

"Definitely except Zeref," he agreed with a rough chuckle.

 *****So that was storytime, with some significant liberties taken with canon, since most of this we know...nothing about. Next chapter might be a little late, since I have to write it.**

 **Also, for anyone following CoLu Week 2016, I'm sorry I disappeared, but my inspiration took a walk and got lost on the road of life. I'll get back to it eventually.*****


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

"Are you finished packing?"

"Excuse me?" Lucy looked up from lacing her boots. Acnologia had appeared in the doorway of her bedroom, his cloak wrapped around him like a dark cloud.

"Packing," he repeated slowly. "The act of gathering one's belongings before departure."

"I know what packing is," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "What I was asking about was the need for packing. Are we departing?"

"Do you not wish to go back to Magnolia?" he asked, and Lucy was surprised to hear bewilderment in his tone. It was the first time he had shown any sort of confusion in front of her. Usually he was stoic and in control, with the exception of the end of their discussion the night before, where he had been kind.

His question made her pause. The first month she had spent in the cave, she had been eager to leave. Eager to learn what was necessary and return to her friends. To go home.

But Loke had told her that Magnolia was empty of members of Fairy Tail; that the guild had scattered to the four winds. There was nothing but emptiness for her there, nobody waiting for her to come home. She had made her home here in this cave, with a surly dragon slayer for company. It had been such a gradual change that she hadn't noticed until now.

"The winter storms are almost upon us," Acnologia continued coolly. "If you do not leave soon, you will likely not be able to return until the spring thaws, for even I cannot fight against nature when she chooses to act. You have no further reason to stay here."

Lucy almost snorted at the pompousness of the statement, but collected herself. Drawing upon the manners that Loke and Capricorn had taught her after she had been taken on as an official student, she stood and bowed low before Acnologia.

"If you permit it, _Héahleornere_ ," she murmured, her eyes fixed on the floor just in front of his feet. "I would ask to become a member of your household. For I have no other household to claim but that of my _láréow_ , and would be honored to share your hearth."

Barely breathing she waited for his response, having placed all of her hopes onto him allowing her to stay. But she couldn't help but remember that he had been alone for four hundred years, and Lucy was afraid that he would set her loose in the world with the knowledge of who Zeref was, what he had done to her friend, and what she had to do to stop him. She knew that she could handle it, but she didn't want to do it alone.

"Why do you seek a place at my hearth?" he asked after a long minute. "It is not a well-visited hearth, nor conveniently placed. With winter upon us, we will likely be bound to the cave for days at a time."

"There is nothing left for me out there," Lucy said honestly. "My blood-family is dead, and my heart-family scattered across the continent. I do not know what I would have done if you had not taken me as a student, but I know that I would remain at your hearth." As an afterthought, and wondering if her cheek would be tolerated, she added: "And I would finish reading through your library."

Acnologia chuckled softly, so soft she almost missed it, and then responded: "If you wish it, you will be welcome at my hearth, _Heofonsteorra_ Lucy Heartfilia."

Straightening, Lucy smiled softly at the dragon. "Shall I make breakfast?" she asked politely, wondering if he had made the morning meal as usual, or if she would be given a chance for once. "Or have you already eaten?"

"It is…easier to fly on an empty stomach," Acnologia responded slowly. "I would be grateful if you prepared a meal. But first, I have something to show you, now that this is to be your home."

Taking her by the elbow, hand gentle, he led her across the open portion of the cave and after four months, Lucy learned where the entrance to the outer cave was.

* * *

Acnologia's warning about the winter storms came true two days after he had ended her apprenticeship. When she rose and appeared in the main room, Acnologia was reading near the hearth, an empty plate beside him, and Lucy's waiting for her at her usual seat.

"The first of the storms is here," he said as she sat, balancing the plate on her lap. "We will be confined to the caves today."

Swallowing the bite of rabbit that she had just taken, Lucy shrugged. "If it is not too great of an imposition, perhaps I will read further in the _athenaeum_?" she said. "Or did you have other plans?"

"You are no longer my student," he replied coolly. "There is no need for you to defer to me."

"But you are _Héahleornere_ ," Lucy replied. "And master of my hearth. Is it wrong that I should ask permission before intruding upon your belongings?"

The dragon snorted, turning a page in his book. "You've learned manners in the four months you have been here," he said dryly. "Your spirits have been good teachers."

"I have learned the manners expected of me by my _láréow_ ," Lucy corrected firmly. "They are different than those taught to noblewomen and guild members."

"You were a noblewoman?" Acnologia asked, with a hint of curiosity in is voice. "Why leave that for my hearth?"

Lucy made a face as she remembered growing up on the Konzern, the coldness of the halls after her mother's death. "Nobility does not equal happiness, just as marriage does not always associate with love. My father would have had me marry for the betterment of his business without considering my personal feelings. To him, at least then, I was nothing more than a tool to be wielded."

"As _Draconis_ , I understand the necessity of political marriage," Acnologia responded slowly. "But none of my predecessors would have arbitrarily chosen their child's spouse. My own marriage to the last _Andromedaera_ was a political marriage, but one we were both willing to undertake. We were…compatible, in a way. Or at least it seemed so at the time the betrothal was signed." His tone was bitter when he referred to the last _Andromedaera_ , but Lucy couldn't blame him. Acnologia had been betrayed by Anna Heartfilia, who was bound to be married to him. It was a low blow.

"It has changed since then," Lucy murmured, setting aside her now empty plate. "Among the nobility, children are simply assets a parent may use to expand their influence. I refused to be a part of that, so I left and became a guild mage. My father went to great expense to retrieve me, but I would not be moved." It hurt, oh it still hurt when she thought about the incident with Phantom Lord, how the guild had been destroyed _because of her_ , how everyone had fought and gotten hurt _because they wouldn't give her up_. Sometimes she still dreamed of it, still dreamed of Gajeel's last attempt to kill her and her desperate resolve that she would not break, would not give in and slink home because Fairy Tail had suffered so much because of her and they would not give her up.

"Among the dragons it was the same," Acnologia's voice broke into her thoughts, and Lucy listened, since he was volunteering information, which almost never happened. "And the slayers. We were to choose our own mates, love-matches, if you will. To bind yourself to an unwilling partner was one of the most grievous crimes in our society. My case was a special one, admittedly, but we were willing, and both parties knew what they were walking into."

Humming in agreement, Lucy gathered her plate and his own, retreating to the sink to wash them and the few dishes that had been dirtied by cooking, taking advantage of the distance to calm the flood of emotions that had threatened to overwhelm her when she thought of Fairy Tail. Four months, and the hurt still lingered, an ache in her bones that she sometimes doubted would ever fade.

Acnologia left her to her thoughts, saying nothing as she disappeared into the _athenaeum_ and returned with a thick book to settle beside the hearth with. At noon, he placed a plate by her elbow, and she stopped to eat, just briefly, and then returned to her reading.

After dinner though, he confiscated her book and led her outside. The outer cave was dark, the snow swirling at the entrance like the wind barrier that Erigor had set around the train station.

"You mourn your lost friends," Acnologia said, almost invisible in the darkness but for the light gleam of his silvery hair. "Why did you not take the chance when you had it and go to them?"

"Nobody stayed," Lucy whispered, staring out at the snow. "Loke told me that nobody stayed. I won't join another guild, not after what I've experienced with Fairy Tail. And none of them wanted to stay a part of the guild enough that they would disobey Master's orders and rebuild it. They just left. All of them. Natsu left anyways, without telling anyone." _Without telling me_ , she wanted to cry. He had been her best friend, her shoulder to lean on, and he left. After Phantom, after her father died, after Future Lucy…he had been there. And then he left.

"Everyone leaves," Acnologia said flatly. "They either die and leave you or they turn away and leave you."

"That doesn't make it easier," Lucy hissed at him, wrapping her arms around herself. "Just because we all die at some point doesn't make the loss any easier."

"Did you ask to stay here because you were too afraid to be alone?" the dragon asked bluntly. "If that was the cause, as soon as the storm clears, I will deliver you to your town."

"No," Lucy spat, turning on him. "I had nothing out there, but I could have been a mage. Could have tried to find everyone, because we tend to leave a trail of destruction in our wake when we go anywhere."

"Why didn't you?" Acnologia challenged. "You could have tried to leave the moment I started taking you to the forest to train. But you stayed."

Lucy snorted. "And you wouldn't have tossed me over your shoulder and kept me in the cave the minute I tried to run?" she asked sarcastically. "Of course I stayed. But I chose to stay now because I like it here. They're gone, but I don't want to find them. This feels…right. Sharing your hearth, learning from you…it's an opportunity I don't want to waste, a path I want to walk."

"The dragon who tried to kill you, who killed many, many people and dragons, is your preferred choice compared to your friends?"

"Do you honestly enjoy killing?" Lucy snapped. "Because when you told me your story, I heard a whole lot of regret. Not regret that you killed, but regret at the situation that made you choose killing as an option."

"We're not talking about me right now," Acnologia said shortly. "We're talking about you."

"What do you want me to say?" Lucy shrieked, throwing her hands up and turning on him. "Do you want to know about how much it hurts to remember that the guild that meant everything to me meant less to everyone else, people who I've seen fight to the point of _death_ for it and the people in it? Do you want me to tell you about the nightmares I _still have_ but this time, there is nobody to wake me from them? Do you want to hear about how every time I look at the back of my _godsdamned hand_ and don't see my guild mark, I wonder if this isn't the beginning of the hell that _she_ warned us all about? Is that what you want to hear? How much I'm suffering, even if I've chosen to make my home here?"

"Who warned you?" Acnologia said, eyes dark with something Lucy couldn't name. "Who warned you, and what did she warn you about?"

" _Dragons_ ," Lucy hissed from between her gritted teeth. "If the Eclipse Gate plan had been untouched, it would have unleased thousands of dragons into this world. And the me of that future _came back through time_ to stop it. And she _died_ , saving me. She had no guild mark, and right now all I can wonder is if we aren't on track for a future just as bad as the one she had."

Frustration, fear, _rage_ …all of them coursed through Lucy and she lunged for Acnologia, rational mind narrowed to the mentality of _hurt something_. Wanting to make them feel how much she was hurting. It didn't matter that she was half of his size or weight, or that he was capable of taking her out with a single finger. Lucy charged him, and he defended himself, making no effort to restrain her. He let her wear out her fury against him, taking the blows that she doled out without a single murmur until she slid to the ground, panting and exhausted.

To her surprise, he crouched down next to her, reaching out to tip her head up so that they were looking into each other's eyes.

"The Eclipse Gate is an _abomination_ ," he rasped softly, just loud enough to be heard over the sound of the wind and the snow at the entrance to the cave. "You should not have had to suffer it more than you already have. For that, I am sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," Lucy choked out in an odd combination of grief and shock, shock that this man was apologizing to her. "You had nothing to do with it."

"If I had killed Zeref beforehand," the dragon hissed the Black Wizard's name with a disgust Lucy had never heard before from him. "Or if I had been more careful about destroying all of his works, you would not have had to suffer the second Eclipse Gate. As _Draconis_ , I have failed in my duties."

Lucy couldn't argue with his reasoning. Too much of her grief tied back to Zeref, in some way, shape, or form. If Acnologia had managed to kill Zeref in advance of…well, just about anything connected to her life it seemed, she wouldn't have suffered most of the disasters she had experienced. But yet… "Didn't you say that only Natsu would be able to kill him?" she asked softly, still looking into Acnologia's eyes, his hand forcing her chin up so that she could not hide away.

"That seems to be the case," the dragon huffed irritably. "But I'm not ruling out severe blunt force trauma yet."

"What will happen to Natsu when Zeref dies?" Lucy asked suddenly, a sneaking suspicion in her mind.

"I don't know," Acnologia admitted gruffly. "Zeref destroyed the notes on how the brat was created, so everything about him is unknown. The boy you know may simply have been a soul pulled back and attached to that body with magic, a human façade for a weapon, if you will."

"So…when Zeref dies…" She couldn't say the words.

"He might," the slayer murmured. "But you have to decide. Which is it that would benefit the world more? The survival of the Dragneel brothers, or the death of the Black Wizard?"

Lucy tried to pull away, but Acnologia held her firmly in place. "Do not mistake me, _Heofonsteorra_ , I am not the heartless monster you believe me to be. I too have grieved lost companions. But this is beyond you now, beyond any of us. As _Draconis_ , it is my duty to rid the world of the man who has perverted what our ancestors taught him. You, as the last scion of Andromeda, and as my heir as _Héahleornere_ , are bound by the same duty. Anna Heartfilia failed that duty four hundred years ago. Would you do the same, to save a single man who was lost long before?"

His eyes, looking back at her were cold, and Lucy would have backed down if he hadn't held her in place. She wondered, for a moment, if he wouldn't cut her down right here if she refused. But she couldn't turn her back on Natsu.

"I would end Zeref," she replied shakily. "If it comes at the cost of my nakama, then so be it. But I would do my best to save Natsu, if at all possible."

Holding her in place for a moment longer, Acnologia released her chin. "Your loyalty to him does you credit," he said gruffly. "But you have a duty to fulfill, and I…I would not have you as my enemy."

Lucy looked back up at him, of her own volition now, and she was surprised to see something that she might even call _fondness_ on the dragon's face as he looked down at her. Briefly, she wondered what he would look like if his face softened like that more often. Her mind supplied a brief image, and she nearly squeaked as she looked down again, cheeks reddening. It was an…attractive thought. And one that had no place in her mind.

Acnologia straightened, reaching down to help her to her feet, his hand warm, even through her long tunic sleeves. It was cold in the outer cave, without the warmth of the fire, and with the wind howling by the entrance. Snow was already mounding at the entrance to the cave, the beginnings of a solid white barrier in place.

"Go rest," he ordered, nodding towards the place where the entrance to the inner cave was concealed. "We will see what weather the dawn brings."

 *****So, apologies to everyone. This has apparently been lying around for some time, waiting for me to publish it. No estimate on when the next chapter will come, but here's an update!*****


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

The storm raged for three days before abating enough that Acnologia felt comfortable returning to their training in the forest. As she was dropped on the ground, Lucy rolled back to her feet and faced the slayer, who was discarding his heavy cloak and hanging it over a tree branch. Motioning for Lucy to do the same, the dragon grinned at her, sharp incisors glinting.

"While the snow is on the ground, we can address one part of your training that we aren't able to in the cave," he said as Lucy warily undid the fasteners on the cloak that he had presented to her at the first snowfall. It was simple, undyed deerskin, but lined with what she thought might be beaver pelts. On her, it was a perfect fit, surprisingly enough, since her head came up to his chin, and he had to be at least twice her weight in muscle. But it was warm, even as the wind whistled around her during their brief flights.

"And what is that?" she asked, facing him, noticing that he had stripped off the leather jerkin and tunic that he had taken to wearing as the weather grew colder. _That_ could only mean trouble.

There were definitely more teeth in his grin this time. "Grappling."

"Oh no," Lucy muttered, shaking her head as she instinctively took a step back. "I am _not_ going to stand a chance," she tried.

As he moved towards her, she bolted, but a few loping lunges, and he had caught up to her, tackling her to the ground and pinning her there.

"Lesson one," he said as she squirmed, trying to get out of his hold. "How to get free."

When they finally finished, Lucy knew seven different ways of freeing herself from being pinned, only four of them involving committing violence, eight ways she could hold an opponent in place if she wanted to restrain them, and twelve different soft spots on the human body that could do a lot of damage with only minimal effort once she had them down.

She was also sore, bruised, and severely in need of a long soak in the hot springs. It was only the fact that she had made every stitch she was wearing, from her leggings to her tunic and vest as well as the fur-lined boots that Acnologia had insisted on during one of the nights where she sewed and he lectured, that her clothes had survived at all. They were downright _comfortable_ for all that they were durable, and kept her toes toasty without the need for several layers of socks, but now she was just sweltering in _all_ of her clothing, which was made to keep her warm, not to undergo strenuous exertions in.

As Acnologia donned his shirt and jerkin, Lucy collected her cloak, wondering if she really wanted to wrap herself in it, as warm as she was. Deciding against it, she positioned herself in the middle of the open space, knowing that Acnologia would collect her when he was ready.

"Have you ever worked in unison with a human since you transformed?" she asked curiously, holding her cloak against her chest so that it wouldn't be left behind. "Like, let them stand on your back or something like that?"

"Never," Acnologia rumbled, having just transformed into his draconic form. His claw wrapped around her, and then they were in the air. "None of the dragons I knew tolerated that. And I would not, unless I implicitly trusted the person."

"You would think that it would make the slayers and dragons a more powerful team though," Lucy called, over the wind. "Since one could physically fight while the other used breath attacks."

"Dragons are proud by nature," Acnologia growled, warning her that she had pushed her boundaries. "Would you expect them to bear a rider like a beast of burden?"

"I suppose not," Lucy murmured just loud enough to be heard. "I apologize for being insulting."

He said no more until that night, as they sat around the fire in silence. Lucy was working on another tunic, stitching the hems together with tiny, exact stitches when he said: "You did well with grappling."

"Thank you," she murmured, wondering where this was going. Since his formal mentorship over her had ended, the evening lectures had slowly tapered off. Many nights, he retreated to the _athenaeum_ , likely recording the history in one of his blank books, or copying another. But tonight he was lounging around the hearth, gazing into the orange flames with an inscrutable look on his face.

"If you continue to do well, there might be one other thing I can teach you, with regards to your magic. Do you know how to dance?"

Lucy snorted. "Former noblewoman, remember? It was an essential part of my education until I ran away to be a guild member."

"Demonstrate?" Acnologia asked, nodding to the open space between the kitchen and the hearth fire.

Brushing her fingers across her keys as she set aside her sewing, Lucy hoisted herself out of the hollowed hearth with more grace than she had managed months before. Loke appeared, dressed in his usual suit, instead of tending to copy what she and Acnologia were wearing. Bowing deeply, he grinned at her as Lyra appeared, the musical spirit having adjusted her contract with Lucy so that they could spend more time together. As Lyra struck up the first few chords, Lucy grinned. She and Loke had danced together on nights when Lucy missed home, back in her tiny apartment in Magnolia. Flowing seamlessly into the steps, she let Loke take the lead as he swept her around the open space in a flawless waltz.

As soon as the song ended, Lyra changed to a new one, forcing Loke to draw Lucy closer as the bewitching strains of a tango filled the cave. After the tango was finished, the tempo picked up, and Lucy laughed as the first of several forbidden pleasures, a swing dance, took over. Loke was grinning exuberantly as they got to try out a few of the crazier moves that her apartment was too small for. When the music stopped, they were breathless, but Lucy was beaming.

Turning to Acnologia, she bowed smugly. "Is that enough proof, _Héahleornere_? Or do you require more?"

He nodded, conceding. "You dance well, but these modern steps do not fit with the purpose I have in mind. Lyra, if you would?"

The spirit bowed her head, and a merry tune came from her harp as she set fingers to strings. Acnologia gracefully pulled himself up out of the hearth as Loke pulled Lucy back to him. Virgo appeared in front of Acnologia himself, and the dragon bowed graciously to the maid spirit.

"Just watch," Loke counselled Lucy spinning her so that she could see the pair as they began to dance, Virgo in perfect step with the dragon. Lucy found herself tapping her foot and humming along with the repeated musical themes as she watched the pair dance. As the song stopped, Loke guided Lucy forward into the cleared area. "Princess, let me lead. Lyra?"

Another song began, and Lucy found herself being guided by Loke into a lively dance that was nothing like she had ever danced before. Shortly, she found herself switching places, and partners, with Virgo, and now it was Acnologia guiding her through the steps. It was a whirlwind of spinning and steps, and then he was lifting her, his hands warm and solid on her waist as he passed her to Loke, who spun her away in a flurry of steps.

When the song finished, Loke stepped back and bowed again, and Lucy found herself curtsying back, flaring her nonexistent skirts.

"These are dances that were common when I was young," Acnologia rumbled, bowing politely to Virgo. "Do you see how they differ from their modern counterparts?"

Lucy nodded slowly. "They followed the beat more," she said, trying to put together the differences between the dances she had spent her formative years learning and the dance that she had just experienced. "And they were less formal, engaging the entire body in each movement."

"That type of movement is essential for the last of the Celestial magic that you have not learned," Acnologia replied as he returned to his seat by the hearth.

"The Star Dance?" Lucy murmured, following his lead and returning to the sewing she had discarded in favor of dancing. "There were few references to it in your library."

"It's intensely personal," the dragon replied, looking into the flames of the hearth with a shuttered expression on his face. "Each person's Star Dance is different, and usually done in private. They are ways of connecting the mage with the heavens, and of renewing your power."

"Is it difficult to learn?"

"It depends on your self-awareness. Those that are able to sink into the proper meditative state while moving in tune with the song the stars are singing to you find it very easy to accomplish. For those who find it difficult to reach that state, or to hear the music of the stars, it is much more difficult."

"When can we start?" Lucy set down her sewing, looking towards the entrance to the outer cave. She was always interested in learning a new facet of her magic, and for this magic to bring her closer to the stars that she loved…

"When the sky clears," was the answer she received, disappointing as it was. "While an experienced mage is capable of connecting with the heavens even when the stars are obscured, it is always easiest for the first attempts to be made when the stars shine brightly."

* * *

Time had passed without her even realizing it.

Lucy slowly put down her pen from where she was beginning a letter to her mother, eyes fixed on the date at the top of the page.

 _20 December, x791_.

The days had come and gone, blurring into each other in the timeless environment of the cave she shared with Acnologia, and now it was almost Christmas.

She had celebrated with her mother, before she got too sick. And then there had been an endless parade of society gatherings, and coldly silent holidays at the Konzern. Before Tenrou, she had been looking forward to decorating her apartment and celebrating with her guildmates.

And then they had slept for seven years, to wake again in April, with Christmas long passed and the Games in front of them. A brief respite, and then they were locked into battle with Tartarus…and then she was here.

A sigh slipped past her lips as she picked up the pen again. There was no place for her to purchase decorations, even if she had money to purchase them with. While the kitchen Acnologia had shaped was indeed advanced for being in a cave without access to the public water supply or electricity, doing any sort of Christmas baking was beyond its capabilities. She would have to have Christmas without any sort of trimmings.

* * *

Acnologia watched as the blonde drifted through the main room of their cave, on her way to sit in the outer area and watch the snow fall. They had stayed in for the past few days, because of another front moving through, but he predicted that it would clear before the next few days were out.

She had been out of sorts for the past few days, and he was tired of waiting for some tell-tale clue to slip out in her speech. It was probably that she as missing her companions, and he again questioned the wisdom of letting her stay. His home was no place for anyone other than himself. Long years had made him a hermit, and by definition he was not fit company for a attractive young woman.

"Leo," he growled softly, knowing that the spirit would answer if he wasn't summoned by his mistress at the moment. Her spirits were close to their gates these days, needing only the slightest hint of a call to appear before her, if they bothered waiting at all. Virgo and Leo had the uncanny habit of appearing as they chose to, and he wondered at the strength of the blonde in the cave beyond. Not even Anna, the last named _Andromedaera_ and holder of the Twelve had ever managed to support spirits manifesting as they willed, nor had she inspired such a thing. "I would like a word."

A muted burst of gold, and the lion spirit was standing in front of him, an impassive look on his face. "How may I help, _Draconis_?" he asked politely.

"What is bothering her?" Acnologia asked, tipping his head towards the outer cave. "She has been…out of sorts."

"Christmas is approaching," Leo murmured, and Acnologia could guess that the spirit was taking care in his word choice, keen on protecting his summoner's privacy. "It was her favorite holiday, when her mother lived."

"Christmas?" he echoed, searching his memory for the connection. "Ah, the latest successor to the Midwinter festivities of old?"

"Yes, _Draconis_."

"She wishes to celebrate, but feels that she cannot because she is here?"

Another brief hesitation. "I believe that she wishes that she could celebrate with the people important to her."

Surprisingly, that stung. "Are the Midwinter traditions similar to the current fashions for Christmas?"

Leo's eyes widened fractionally, but he nodded, before looking towards the cave entrance. Nodding in dismissal, Acnologia looked into the hearth fire as the spirit went to join his master in her vigil in front of the snow. He may not be familiar with Christmas festivities, but Midwinter was a fair starting point.

* * *

Lucy spent most of her Christmas Eve hoping for a miracle she knew would never take place.

She knew it was stupid to get so worked up over _Christmas_ of all things, but it wasn't about the trimmings, or the presents…it was about the _idea_. The ability to spend time with family and friends, of whom she was left bereft, unless you counted her reclusive tutor.

These days, she didn't quite know _what_ to call Acnologia. He was her _héahleornere_ , her _láréow_ , all of the words she had learned that now meant teacher, but he was also the master of the hearth she claimed as her home. That had to mean something more than the distance they had kept at the beginning of her residence with him.

Plue was trying his best to cheer her up by dancing across the table that she was sitting at, offering her his lollipop as she attempted to write a letter to her parents, a habit that she had expanded to include her father in after her return from Tenrou. Her spirits had been in and out of the cave all day, all except Virgo and Loki, which she had thought odd but not wanted to make a demand on their time, especially not on Christmas, since they had been so attentive to her since the end of the war with Tartarus.

Movement beyond the curtain dividing the athenaeum and the main room drew her attention, and she looked up to see Acnologia stepping through, her cloak draped over his arm.

"I have something to show you," he murmured, offering her the cloak. "Come with me?"

Bemused, Lucy settled the cloak over her shoulders, fastening it as she followed him into the main room of the cave. To her surprise, the fire in the hearth was not burning; a fresh fire was laid in the hollow, clean of ashes for the first time, but it was unlit. Acnologia's hand at the small of her back made her look up, but he faced forward as he steered her out of the main room and into the outer cave.

It was even colder out there, without the usual ambient warmth of the hearth fire in the inner cave. Wrapped in her warm cloak, Lucy couldn't help but wonder why he had brought her out here, why he hadn't lit the fire as soon as the hearth had been cleaned.

"Follow my footsteps closely," Acnologia said, leading her to the ledge they used for taking off and landing, her favorite place to sit and watch the snow fall. "I will catch you if you slip."

Turning to follow his gesture, Lucy saw, for the first time, a narrow path leading upwards, winding along the side of the cliff walls. Tentatively at first she started up it, and then she grew in confidence as she found that there was no ice, nothing that might cause her to slip. The solid, reassuring presence of Acnologia at her back helped boost her feeling of security, and then she was at the top, staring at what had to have been the roof of their cave, covered in snow, except for a small fire burning, mostly embers now.

"Yule is the time to renew the hearth fires," Acnologia said, his voice strangely loud in the stillness of the night as the stars stretched brightly across the heavens above. "I am going to use the Star Dance; if you are called, you may be able to join. But I have prepared a place for you to sit."

As he gestured, Lucy noticed his cloak spread out on a boulder that had been cleared of snow. Unable to speak, remembering that he had mentioned that the Star Dance was intensely personal and usually conducted in private, she settled herself on the cloak, surprised to find that it was as toasty as it usually was sitting next to the hearth fire.

Acnologia carefully checked over the embers, and then built a skeletal structure for what Lucy could only assume would be the new hearth fire over them. For a long moment, the dragon slayer stood, hair washed silver in the starlight as he gazed up at the sky.

And then he began to move.

It was slow, at first, less graceful than his usual movements, but he eased into it, moving to some song that Lucy couldn't hear. The movements picked up, circling the dying fire, likely the embers of their hearth fire, she realized. Slowing her breathing to the meditative state Acnologia had told her was the first step towards reaching the proper place from which she could draw on the stars.

She knew when she had reached the state in which she could theoretically complete a Star Dance when she could hear the stars singing. It was both new and eternal, reminding her of songs she had heard of, but at the same time sounding like songs she had never heard before. Magic started to tickle through her, a slow but heady rush, much like the brandy her father had liked to drink some evenings, when he had retired to the library.

Eyes fixed on Acnologia, the strands of the song started to fade away, leaving one particular tune echoing in her ears. The magic strengthened, creating a restless rush of energy in her, driving her to get to her feet and leave her cloak behind. Clad only in her boots, leggings, and the long fur lined tunic over the heavier shirt underneath, Lucy stepped forth onto the snow, causing Acnologia to look at her.

He had shed his shirt at some point, when she hadn't noticed. The blue flame markings that traced his arms and face were _glowing_ , as if they were powered by starlight. His eyes, normally green, seemed silvery now, and Lucy could feel the magic pouring off him. It reached out to her, calling to the magic thrumming in her blood.

Listening to the song, letting it fill her along with the magic, Lucy _moved_.

Her feet seemed guided by the music, taking her in her own circles around the dying fire. Acnologia watched for several circuits, but then he moved in sync with her, filling in the opposite half to the dance she was moving through.

Together they moved, in sync with each other and the magic of the stars' song, around the fire, slowly dying as was necessary for the renewing required by Yule. At the peak of the stars' song, Lucy somehow knew that the embers had died, cooling quickly in the cold night air. In step with the melody, she and Acnologia approached from opposite sides of the fire. Lucy reached out, calling on one of the spells she had learned, one of the spells specific to the Sagittarius bloodline, a defensive wall of fire.

Usually, it was reddish orange, as most flames were, but the flame that sprung from her fingertips was as silver as the starlight on the snow around her. At the same time, Acnologia breathed out a single spark into the heart of the prepared fire as Lucy's fire encircled it.

The entire fire caught, the silver of starlight slowly fading, first from the tips and then slowly down to the heart as the normal reddish color of flame.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Lucy moved away from the fire, picking up the thread of the music again. Acnologia mirrored her, steps in sync as they circled the newly kindled fire slowly. But this time, their steps strayed out of sync, became responsive to each other, the dance turning into a conversation instead of a mirror. The distance between them slowly closed, bringing them within reach, allowing Lucy's hands to skim over the dragon slayer's arms as he moved in front of her, feeling his fingers gently pull through her hair, loose as it was outside of their training sessions per his decree.

Once again, the song reached its peak, but this time, there was no renewal of the stars' song, the magic slowly trickling out of her. Surprised, she found Acnologia's hands on her waist, their weight and warmth comforting in a way she had never noticed before.

He had touched her many times; it was necessary for combat training, for teaching her grappling, but it hadn't felt like _this_ before. Alive with magic, the echo of the stars' song still resonating in her ears, Lucy wondered what it would be like to have those hands touch her more often, more familiarly than the touches required of their training and sparring.

Just as suddenly as the thought had come, the hands were gone, and Lucy realized that whatever it was, whatever she had felt, it was too much, too soon. For all that they knew of each other, they had kept themselves in clearly defined categories, separated as master and student.

Something had changed, during the Star Dance, the rekindling of the hearth fire, but Lucy was hard-pressed to pin it down.

 *****As promised, I'm getting this up before the new year. Sorry for how long it took, and thank you for your patience!*****


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